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K’taka BJP crisis: 2 ministers quit; 13 MLAs ready to resign
Rahul pitches for positive politics on Day 1 in office
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DELHI'S SHAME
CBI to probe minister’s role in harassing 2 girls
Airlines can’t levy transaction fee: SC
10 lakh households to be e-literate by next year
Netaji remembered
Poll code violation: Three BSP MPs, candidate booked
Uddhav takes over as Shiv Sena chief
Panel says no to lowering juvenile age
No hasty steps on ties with Pak: Antony
Rlys start toll-free number for complaint against food quality
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K’taka BJP crisis: 2 ministers quit; 13 MLAs ready to resign
Bangalore, January 23 After two deadlines set by him to strike at the Shettar-led government fizzled out, Yeddyurappa finally saw success with his third attempt as 13 BJP MLAs, including two ministers, today met Governor HR Bhardwaj and told him how the Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah was trying to duck their attempt of resigning from the Assembly. Public Works Minister CM Udasi and Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje quit earlier today. They submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar. Later, the two ministers led 11 other MLAs to Bopaiah's office to hand over their resignations from the legislature. However, Bopaiah was not in his office when the rebel MLAs went to meet him. He has reportedly left for Nepal on a personal visit. Assembly secretary Om Prakash was also on leave. The agitated MLAs then asked the joint secretary to accept their resignations who said he was not competent to do so. Enraged over the development, Yeddyurappa landed in the Vidhana Soudha and slammed the Speaker saying his absence was deliberate. "The Jagadish Shettar government has been reduced to minority. He has no moral right to continue in the office," Yeddyurappa said. He claimed Bopaiah was alerted about the resignation of MLAs yesterday. A member of Bopaiah's staff told this correspondent that Bopaiah's Nepal visit was fixed a month ago. "He left for Nepal three days ago," the official said. Asked when he would be back in Bangalore, the official said he did not know for sure. The rebel MLAs later drove to Raj Bhawan and briefed the Governor about the non-availability of the Speaker despite intimating him in advance that they would come to his office to submit their resignations. "The Governor assured us to take suitable action as per constitutional provisions," Udasi told reporters here. The MLAs submitted copies of their resignations to Bhardwaj, he added. Yeddyurappa and his loyalists want to prevent Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar from presenting the 2013-14 budget. Assembly elections in Karnataka are due in May and Shettar, who is slated to present the budget on February 8, is expected to present a populist budget with sops for various sections of people. Yeddyurappa, who has floated the Karnataka Janata Party after breaking away from the BJP, wants to bring down the BJP government before Shettar could present the budget. In the 225-member Karnataka Assembly, the BJP has 118 MLAs, including the Speaker. One nominated member and one Independent are also supporting, thus taking the effective strength of the treasury benches to 120. Following the revolt by the 13 MLAs, the ruling formation has 107 MLAs, four more than the combined Opposition strength of 103. However, it is anticipated that more Yeddyurappa loyalists will quit the Assembly in the coming days.
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Rahul pitches for positive politics on Day 1 in office
New Delhi, January 23 He only made a brief statement promising to practise positive politics, essentially reiterating what he had said at the Jaipur AICC session. “I don’t want to get into negative politics. I want to get into positive politics. Positive politics is what is going to take this country forward,” he said while promising party functionaries that he would implement
the promises he made in his speech at Jaipur. There was an air of anticipation at the AICC headquarters throughout the day after it became known that Rahul Gandhi would be officially taking charge as Congress vice-president in the evening and would follow it up with his first meeting with party office-bearers. Consequently, all senior leaders and office-bearers, some of whom are normally never spotted at the party office, lined up well in advance to welcome the Congress ‘yuvraj’ and register their presence while flag-waving NSUI members kept up steady slogan shouting outside. Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s political secretary, discreetly supervised the entire exercise while AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and party treasurer Motilal Vora escorted him to the media room after which they headed into the meeting with AICC office-bearers. Dwivedi set the ground rules at the outset, stating that there would be no question-answer session and that Rahul Gandhi had merely dropped in to greet the mediapersons. However, one question was allowed at the insistence of the press persons who had been cooped up in a room for over an hour with the promise that Rahul Gandhi would interact with them. On his part, a relaxed Congress vice-president, wearing a white kurta and jeans, did not give a direct answer when asked about the Justice Verma committee report. “This is my first day in office. I do not want to get into specifics”, he replied. |
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DELHI'S SHAME
New Delhi, January 23 A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir passed the order after an advocate, claiming to represent accused Mukesh, said his client was being subjected to torture. The trial court “shall send a report on the manner in which he is being treated in custody,” if the accused made any complaint on this score, the Bench, which included Justices J Chelameswar and Vikramajit Sen, said. Noting that the rape-and-murder case would be taken up by the trial court tomorrow for framing charges against five accused, the Bench asked the Sessions Judge also to find out from Mukesh as to who he had engaged for arguing his case in the SC. Mukesh has moved the apex court pleading for shifting the trial from Delhi to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, contending that the atmosphere in the Capital was not conducive to holding impartial hearings as the agitations had influenced even the police to take a hostile stand against him. The SC Bench did not hear the arguments on the transfer plea today as two advocates, VK Anand and ML Sharma, claimed to represent Mukesh. In view of this, the Bench said let Mukesh decide which counsel he wanted to argue his case in the SC and this would be ascertained by the trial court. The transfer plea has been filed through another advocate N Rajaraman. Following a nation-wide public outcry, the government has set up a fast-track court to hold the trial against five of the six accused. The sixth accused is a few months below 18 years of age and he would be tried by a Juvenile Justice Board under the Juvenile Justice Act which has provision only for remanding him in a juvenile home for rehabilitation.
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CBI to probe minister’s role in harassing 2 girls
Guwahati, January 23 The order has been passed by Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Arup Kumar Goswami in response to writ petition filed by Radhika Shah (20) and her sister Gayatri (18) last May. The girls complained that Hill Areas Development Minister Khor Sing Engti had tried to grab their land by engaging goons, who physically tortured them and branded them witches. The court, in its order passed yesterday, has directed the CBI to submit its report in three months while the court will monitor the investigation. It also directed the Superintendent of Police of Karbi Anglong hill district in Assam to provide adequate security to the girls and their parents. Earlier, the minister denied the allegations and said these were made at the instance of his political opponents. The high court took up the case suo motu on the basis of the letter written by the two sisters to the court. Suman Shyam, amicus curie to the case, said the court had ordered the CBI inquiry after it was dissatisfied with the police investigations. sisters’ ordeal
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Gorshkov fixed, awaits final delivery trials
New Delhi, January 23 The warship, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, was scheduled to be handed over India in December 2012. Now the delivery deadline has been re-scheduled for the last quarter of 2013. Well placed sources in the Navy informed today that the insulation system of all eight boilers on board the 44,550-tonne behemoth have been replaced with new ones. Three of the boilers had malfunctioned due to faulty insulation during sea trials in August-September 2012. Once the ship came ashore, the boilers were inspected. The fire-brick lining located on the inside of the insulation had come off. The “fire-brick” is a special ceramic which helps maintain optimum temperature in the boilers. Gaps can show wrong engine pressures and speeds, besides being hazardous. An official confirmed that the entire insulation was ripped off and new one installed. As off now, the ship is getting a final coat of anti-rust paint on the portion that will remain submerged. The boilers on board the ship power four engine shafts. The 500-member Indian Navy team on board Admiral Gorshkov had reported to the Naval headquarters the problem with the warship’s boilers, especially when it hit top speeds nearing 30 knots (around 55 kmph). India and Russia had signed a $2.3-billion (Rs 12,650 crore approx as per today’s valuation) contract for refitting the aircraft carrier of the erstwhile Soviet Navy. The first contract was signed in 2004 when no other country was ready to sell such a technology to India. The malfunction notwithstanding, the warship continued to sail and undergo other trials like the landing and take off of MiG-29K fighters from its deck. The ship has already completed a 90-day sail and covered 11,000 nautical miles. Other than the boiler insulation showing problems at top speed, there was no other issues, Naval sources confirmed. In October, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov visited India for the 12th annual meeting of the India-Russia inter-government commission on military technical cooperation where the matter concerning the delay in Gorshkov’s delivery was discussed. Serdyukov had told the media, “We have given a revised time table. Sea trials shall resume in April next year. We believe the transfer (of the ship) will take place in the fourth quarter of 2013.” New Delhi: The Navy will showcase the Gorshkov at the Republic Day parade. A model of the ship will be the tableau of the India Navy on January 26. The tableau will have a flat deck like an aircraft carrier with models of fighter jets. Delivery in 2013-end
The warship, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, was scheduled to be handed over to India in December 2012. Now the delivery deadline has been re-scheduled for the last quarter of 2013 Malfunction in
Boiler
The 500-member Indian Navy team on board Admiral Gorshkov had reported to the Naval headquarters the problem with the warship’s boilers, especially when it hit top speeds nearing 30 knots (around 55
kmph)
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Airlines can’t levy transaction fee: SC
New Delhi, January 23 Pointing out that the basic fare band varied from just Rs 1,000 to over Rs 35,000, a Bench comprising Justices DK Jain and Madan B Lokur said the pricing mechanism was not at all transparent. Air travellers were not being kept informed of the number of seats available in each of the slabs. The Bench also felt that the airlines were perhaps in a position to manipulate the computer software being used for online sale of tickets in order to ensure that most of the tickets were sold in the highest price band. Arguing for the Federation of Indian Airlines, senior counsel UU Lalit, however, discounted this possibility, contending that passengers would not even have a second look at the airlines that offered tickets only in the high price bands and would rather go for low cost airlines. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by an individual, TGN Kumar, challenging the various surcharges being levied by the airlines on the basic fare. The SC passed an order noting that the December 17, 2012, official circular was still in force and as such the transaction fee “cannot be charged by the airlines” till an order was passed allowing it by the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) or any other Board or court. Apex court observation
The SC noted that the December 17, 2012, official circular was still in force and as such the transaction fee “cannot be charged by the airlines” till an order was passed allowing it by the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) or any other Board or court
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10 lakh households to be e-literate by next year
New Delhi, January 23 Unveiling the agenda here today, Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said the target would be achieved by the end of 2013 and is part of the ambitious project of the government to make one person information technology (IT) literate in every household by 2020. He said 18 items have been identified for further promotion and development of domestic electronics and the IT-enabled services in the country during the year. He further said the government was committed to making India a global hub for electronics system design and manufacturing to meet the growing domestic and global demand. The minister said mobile service delivery gateway will be rolled out to ensure easy availability of government services to common man through mobile devices. The other key project, Sibal said, would be the notification of cyber security policy. As part of development of people-oriented IT solutions, a prototype of personal safety device will be made ready during the current year to cater to the security needs of people. The minister said the device will be helpful not only for women in distress, but also for senior citizens and children.
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Netaji remembered
Kolkata, January 23 At a function at Netaji Bhavan, Elgin Road, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the government’s decision of declaring the house at 38/2 Elgin Road as Heritage Bhavan. This is the house where Netaji spent his early days and from where he took his last journey abroad on January 17, 1941, in his mission of freeing India from the British rule with the help and assistance of friendly countries. She also declared that a new monument similar to Kolkata’s Saheed Minar would be built soon in the name of Netaji.
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Poll code violation: Three BSP MPs, candidate booked
Lucknow, January 23 The three MPs against whom the FIRs have been registered are Deoria MP Gorakh Prasad Jaiswal, Salempur MP Ramashankar Rajbhar and BSP Rajya Sabha member Salim Ansari, who belongs to Mau. The FIR registered at Khampur police station also implicates Brinda Kushwaha, the BSP candidate for Bhatpar Rani bypoll. According to Returning Officer RD Pandey, the matter of the MPs misusing red beacon light vehicles came to light yesterday after which the FIR was filed.
— TNS
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Uddhav takes over as Shiv Sena chief
Mumbai, January 23 Though the appointment of Uddhav was a formality, the Shiv Sena officially went through the motions of the party's national executive committee meeting to make the change. "I am Balasaheb's son. He brought the party to
this level. I assure you that I will take Shiv Sena one step ahead," Uddhav said at function organised in Mumbai. Party spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said the party would continue with the practice of calling late Bal Thackeray the party "pramukh".
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Panel says no
to lowering juvenile age New Delhi, January 23 Gopal Subramanium, member of the commission, and Justice Leila Seth, former Chief Justice of the Himachal High Court, said, "Our juvenile justice law has proved to be a total failure. To reduce the age of juveniles we needed corresponding evidence that such a move would help. At a time when our juvenile justice institutions such as care and protection homes are not able to do their duty of correction of delinquents, simply lowering the age would not help." The commission has called for a CAG-like constitutional authority to audit records of all statutory commissions like the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights etc. Trafficking for prostitution The commission has recommended inclusion of a new offence under Section 370 of the IPC stating that trafficking (harbouring, procurement, trade) of children and adults for the purpose of prostitution, servitude and organ trade, would be an offence punishable with jail term ranging from 7 years to life imprisonment, besides fine. ‘DGPs didn't listen to us’ Justice Verma said not even one DGP sent his response to the commission. "The very ministry responsible for initiating this committee sent its response as late as yesterday evening when we had already finalised our report," he said.
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No hasty steps on ties with Pak: Antony New Delhi, January 23 Though tension along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir had “reduced” after talks between the two DGMOs, Antony sounded skeptical that the relations between the two countries will reach the level which existed before the beheading on January 8 too soon. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an NCC function, Antony said it was “too early to expect normal relations. We have to wait and watch and assess the ground situation and other factors. Regarding the future course of action and relations in the future, we will not take a hasty decision.” He buttressed his argument saying infiltration attempts are going on even in extreme winters and wondered “if this is the case now, what will be the position (of infiltration) in summers?”. “After the latest round of talks between the two DGMOs, the tension at the LoC has reduced but I cannot say or set a timeline for normalising the atmosphere there. It depends on so many factors”, Antony said. On the situation along the LoC, he said: “Even though Pakistan has assured us certain things, we have to see how this assurance translates into action”.
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Rlys start toll-free number for complaint against food quality New Delhi, January 23 The toll-free number is part of a slew of measures which the Railway Minister is taking to improve the quality of food for passengers. The move comes as a result of the increasing number of complaints against catering service in trains and stations. “Anyone can call the toll-free number and register his or her complaint and it will be addressed,” said Bansal here. The complaint number is centralised and the action will be taken from the Railway headquarters in Delhi and addressed on the train or the station concerned. “The complaint can relate to anything including overcharging, less quantity or substandard quality. It will be addressed on real-time basis,” he said adding that the number has been operational since January 18 and till date, 26 complaints have been received. He assured the passengers of action against erring catering contractors. Bansal said mobile squads have been formed to keep a check on contractors in trains and stations and the toll-free number would be displayed in coaches and stations prominently to make passengers aware about the facility.
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