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Cong picks
Siddaramaiah as new Karnataka CM
Now, green trouble for Bansal’s nephew in Acropolis project
Singla’s firm ‘fudged’ facts in balancesheet
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Railgate: CBI probing hawala angle
CBSE declares JEE Main school marks normalisation formula
Germany opposes death penalty for Bhullar
BJP to use Karnataka debacle as an example to fight corruption
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Cong picks Siddaramaiah
as new Karnataka CM Bangalore, May 10 “Siddaramaiah is the choice of the party’s high command for the Chief Minister’s post”, senior Congress leader and central observer AK Antony told reporters here. A six-time MLA from Varuna constituency in Mysore district, Siddaramaiah was the Leader of the Opposition in the last Assembly. He would be the first Karnataka Chief Minister belonging to the backward Kuruba community. Siddaramaiah was the Deputy Chief Minister twice before, first time as a representative of the Janata Dal in 1996 and again in 2004 when the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) had formed a government with Congress leader Dharam Singh as the Chief Minister. He also held the finance portfolio when Deve Gowda was the Chief Minister. Siddaramaiah joined the Congress in 2006 after differences with his mentor Deve Gowda. A team of AICC observers, led by Antony, had landed in Bangalore this morning to oversee the process of election of the new Chief Minister. The Congress adopted a secret balloting route to select the new Chief Minister. The central observers asked the legislators to give in writing the name of the person they wanted to see as the Chief Minister. Later, a resolution was unanimously passed in the meeting to leave the decision to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi. This resolution was proposed by Siddaramaiah and seconded by four other MLAs, including DK Shivakumar and RV Deshpande, who were also contenders for the CM’s post. Addressing his supporters, Siddaramaiah thanked Sonia and Rahul for “reposing faith in him”. He said only the Congress could provide a stable government in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah will take oath at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Monday. KPCC chief G Parameshwar, who was a contender for the CM’s post despite having lost in the Assembly polls, said he and Siddaramaiah would go to Delhi together to finalise the list of ministers.
z He would be the first Chief Minister of the state belonging to the backward Kuruba community z Siddaramaiah joined the Congress in 2006 after differences with his mentor Deve Gowda z Has been the Deputy CM twice --- in 1996 and 2004 z Mallikarjun
Kharge, Union Labour and Employment Minister, had thrown the most serious challenge to Siddaramaiah’s candidature for the CM’s post
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Now, green trouble for Bansal’s nephew in Acropolis project
Chandigarh, May 10 For violations of the Environment (Protection) Act while raising Acropolis, a project of Mirage Infra Limited, owned by Singla, the Legal Remembrancer (LR) of the Chandigarh Administration has given its report stating that it is a fit case under the Act and a case should be registered against the owners. A senior official of the UT Administration said after receiving the LR’s report, they are preparing a prosecution case against Mirage Infra Ltd. They have sought some clarifications from senior officials as it is a first of its kind case of the violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006, in the city, official added. The Tribune had reported about the environment violations at Acropolis Mall at Plot No. 68 in Industrial Area, Phase I, Chandigarh. The firm had constructed a framework of the ground floor plus three floors without environment clearance. After the violations were spotted, the firm was directed to stop construction work and it had given an undertaking that no violation would be repeated in future. The Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) of Chandigarh had also recommended legal action against the owners of Acropolis for violating the environment Act. Acropolis is promoted by Mirage Infra Limited, a sister concern of JTL Infra Limited (formerly Jagan Tubes Limited). In 2008, Singla had purchased an industrial plot from Modern Bread in the Industrial Area and thereafter, applied for the conversion of plot for the Acropolis project under the UT’s conversion policy. The UT Estate Office had also resumed the converted site of Acropolis Mall for non-payment of Rs 28 crore as conversion charges. The owners have now filed an appeal against the Estate Office’s order.
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Singla’s firm ‘fudged’ facts in balancesheet
Chandigarh, May 10 Documents submitted by state BJP president Sanjay Tandon to the regional office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today claimed that Singla’s firm had shown loans and advances from four firms in its balancesheet for 2012 whereas nothing was mentioned about these loans in the balancesheets of the four firms. In its balancesheet, Mirage Infra Ltd had shown taking long-term loan and advances of Rs 2.6 crore from M/s Malerkotla Steels Private Ltd, but the same were not mentioned in the book of Malerkotla Steels as on March 31, 2012,
he claimed. Similarly, long-term loan and advances of Rs 1.25 crore were logged in the books of Singla’s firm but the same did not reflect in the balancesheet of M/s Garg Pipes Private Ltd as on March 31, 2011.
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Railgate: CBI probing hawala angle
New Delhi, May 10 The agency is gathering details about the posts that were allegedly sold in the Railways and the Railway Board. The Railway officials have been given different times to meet the investigation team of the case. The sources also said the CBI had identified for closer scrutiny 500 phone calls out of 1,000 intercepted calls mainly among Mahesh, Singla, Manjunath and Sandeep Goyal in the alleged Rs 10 crore Railway bribe scandal. The sources said over 1,000 phone calls were intercepted during the two months’ surveillance on arrested Mahesh and Singla. One of the calls intercepted by the agency indicates that Mahesh was allegedly assured that he would get the lucrative post of Member (Electrical) Railway Board in exchange for illegal gratification, the sources said. The CBI is also investigating the case from “hawala” angle as Manjunath of Hyderabad had sent the money through his contacts in Delhi to Singla in Chandigarh on behalf of Mahesh. If it is proved that it was hawala crime, a separate case will be registered. The agency alleged that a part payment of Rs 90 lakh was delivered to Singla after which it carried out searches at their premises and recovered the bribe amount. Mahesh was in between elevated from GM (West) to Member (Staff) in Railway Board, a post in which he was not very apparently interested. He then allegedly asked Goyal to help him retain the additional charge of GM (West) for which the middleman demanded Rs 2 crore as immediate payment. The sources said a discussion on the transfer of the Railway Board member in specific terms could not be traced so far in the intercepts of direct phone calls between Singla and Mahesh. The sources said Mahesh met former Railway Minister PK Bansal at least four times before May 3 and one of these meetings took place on the sidelines of a function on April 16. The location of Singla during surveillance of the CBI reportedly showed his frequent presence at Bansal's residence and Rail Bhawan, the sources claimed. The CBI is also trying to know about the person who informed Mahesh’s wife about his arrest and searches that were conducted on his official premises. She had shifted some documents and jewellery elsewhere after she was informed about the raids. Later, the agency recovered all those papers and jewellery. (With PTI inputs)
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CBSE declares JEE Main school marks normalisation formula
New Delhi, May 10 The formula will test two things -- the performance of a student in his school board and the performance of the respective state school boards in JEE. An average score of the two results would be used to give 40 pc weightage to a student’s school marks. These will be combined with 60 pc weightage of JEE Mains to calculate all India merit list which will be ready only in July. “JEE Apex Board has finalised the normalisation formula. A long exercise was undertaken to ensure we normalise school marks in a way that no student is put at a disadvantage on account of one board being easier than the other or vice versa,” CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said. — TNS
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Pran receives Dadasaheb Phalke award
Mumbai, May 10 Pran (93) is ailing and was not able to go to Delhi to receive the award earlier this month. The wheel-chair bound actor dressed in a kurta-pyjama received the award which consists of a Swarna Kamal medal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl. The actor was accompanied by his daughter Pinky and son Sunil during the short award ceremony. “He was not well. So it was our responsibility to give him the award at his place. He thanked everyone,” said Tewari. Asked about the long delay in granting the award to the actor, the minister said the awardee is chosen by a jury. “The jury decides who is to be given the award... there is a procedure for this,” he said. Among the major films Pran has starred in include big hits like Madhumati, Milan, Kashmir ki Kali, Upkaar, etc. In all, he starred in nearly 400 films in most of which he played the role of a villain. In later years, the veteran actor appeared in character roles that were far different from his older performances. India’s highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is given annually since 1969 to recognise the contribution of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema and their distinguished contribution to the growth and promotion of the medium. Born in 1920 in Delhi, Pran started his career as a photographer in 1940, but a chance meeting with a film producer got him his first role in a film “Yamla
Jat”.
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Need to redefine moral values: Prez
Lucknow, May 10 Speaking at fourth Convocation of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) here today, Pranab said that we must find solutions for bringing such degradation of values to an immediate halt. He stated that universities did possess the capability to shape the minds of youth and should set in motion the process of redefining our ethical values. Mukherjee focused on the need for quality in higher education. He said that universities must deliver education of international standards. “Every university should identify one department that can be developed into a Centre of Excellence”, he said calling upon the Central universities to spearhead this transformation.
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Germany opposes death penalty for Bhullar
New Delhi, May 10 “Germany has a principled position that it is opposed to death penalty because we don’t believe it serves the cause of justice,” German Ambassador
to India Michael Steiner said when asked to confirm reports that German President Joachim Gauck
and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle have written to their Indian counterparts seeking clemency for Bhullar. Talking to reporters
on the margins of a function here, the German envoy also did not agree with suggestions that Berlin’s position on the Bhullar issue amounted to interference in the internal affairs of another country. “I think if someone has a principled position, it is not an interference in any internal matter.” Bhullar was sentenced to death in 2001 for plotting terror attacks on Punjab SSP Sumedh Singh Saini and the then Youth Congress chief M S Bitta in 1993. The apex court had in March 2002 dismissed Bhullar’s appeal against the death sentence awarded by trial court and endorsed by the Delhi High Court. He had fled to Germany in 1994 and sought political asylum there. However, the German authorities rejected his application and deported him to India, a move they now appear to be regretting. Bhullar’s family members, including his wife Navneet Kaur, have met the German envoy and sought their intervention in the matter. Punjab Chief Minister had also recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek clemency for Bhullar, expressing the fear that his hanging could vitiate peace in Punjab.
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BJP to use Karnataka debacle as an example to fight corruption
New Delhi, May 10 While Karnataka will be the example of party’s “zero tolerance toward corruption”, which is also party patriarch LK Advani’s core theme these days, the obvious examples of good governance are performance of the BJP-led governments in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The controversy surrounding Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, which took the sheen off the Congress’ Karnataka win, also provided a breather to the BJP to divert attention from its own issue -- the humiliating defeat in Karnataka that also left party’s political ideologue RSS fuming over the way BS Yeddyurappa issue was handled by the top leadership. Sources say informal discussions in the Central leadership have concluded that general secretary Ananth Kumar and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari were largely responsible for the debacle in Karnataka and the sharp decrease in its vote share in the state. Backed by Advani anti-corruption crusade, they allowed state leaders to create problems for Yeddyurappa, forcing him to leave the party and marking the beginning of the end of the BJP in its only southern bastion, they say. Officially, the party defends its decision on distancing from Yeddyurappa, saying that “certain issues are non-negotiable and corruption is one such issue” but many senior leaders also believe that perhaps they were wrong in believing that crusade against corruption would lead them to victory in the Karnataka. Factionalism triggered by the Central leadership’s refusal to reinstate Yeddyurappa as CM owing to a slew of corruption charges cost the party dear. Reduced to the level of the third option in the state, they say results prove that caste remains a bigger factor, meaning that the party was open to Yeddyurappa coming back to its fold in future. “People don’t cast their vote, they vote for their caste. Losses in Karnataka prove that as far as the voters are concerned corruption is a non-issue and caste is bigger issue. The party has managed to score a self- goal,” they admit.
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Elected
by secret ballot; to take oath on May 13
