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Cabinet rejig likely; Cong meet today
PM has no option but to quit: Rajnath
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Coal scam: Cong slams BJP
M’rashtra CM refutes rumours of moving to Delhi
Raised incursion issue with China, border agreement talks on: Khurshid
While deciding sentence, take into account public abhorrence, SC advises courts
UP court rejects dropping of terror cases against 2 HuJI men
India concerned over US immigration reforms
Over 200 K’taka legislators are multi-millionaires
2013 is Water Conservation Year
Court vindicates poll panel, raps Mamata govt
Call off pilgrims’ visit to Ajmer Sharif: India to Pak
Rajasthan CM to fund kidney transplant of meritorious student
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Cabinet rejig likely; Cong meet today
New Delhi, May 11 The Congress Core Group is slated to meet tomorrow amid indications that the need for restructuring of the party organisation and the Cabinet will be discussed. The sacking of former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal and former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has also necessitated comprehensive changes although additional charges of the two ministries were today given to CP Joshi and Kapil Sibal, respectively. Congress sources didn’t rule out the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle but added that a reshuffle might take place alongside the pending AICC restructuring, which is also due for a while now. Some vacancies already exist in the Cabinet. These include a Cabinet position following the exit of DMK’s MA Alagiri who held the Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry. Additional charge of this ministry is with Congress’ Srikant Jena. Six posts of Ministers of State are also vacant. Further, Law and Railway Ministries will have to be reallocated with full charge to ministers. The restructuring, party sources said, has been necessitated on account of the corruption taint which the government faces. Although some of that taint is expected to be wiped off after yesterday’s resignation by two ministers, cleaner image ahead of assembly elections in five states and 2014 Lok Sabha elections is in the interest of the party. Sources said at the time of the last Cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister had played a role in the appointment of Ashwani Kumar as Law Minister and Bansal as Rail Minister even though the party leadership was not said to be very keen. This time the party is expected to assert itself. The Congress today gave credit for the exit of the two ministers to its president Sonia Gandhi. “Sonia Gandhi has never tolerated corruption and she communicated this fact to the Prime Minister. Such communication is part of democracy. She did assert herself,” said party leader Bhakta Charan Das. The fact that Sonia’s will prevailed in sealing the fate of Ashwani and Bansal was expected but Congress sources pointed to the fact that Sonia asserted her position by visiting the Prime Minister at his residence. Her political secretary Ahmad Patel drove out of the Prime Minister’s residence last night only after Kumar and Bansal had left after tendering their resignations. In doing so, Sonia sent a signal to the government, including the Prime Minister, that corruption would not be tolerated. The move reiterates Congress president’s conviction to the 2010 promise she made in the 83rd Plenary Session of the party where she declared “zero tolerance for corruption”.
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PM has no option but to quit: Rajnath
New Delhi, May 11 Terming the situation in the country as serious, BJP president Rajnath Singh urged the Prime Minister to do an “introspection” to find ways so that people’s faith in him can be restored. “If the Prime Minister does an honest introspection, he will realise that resignation is the only option left for him. It is not the question of one of two ministers but the entire system,” he said. Rajnath asked the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi whether ethics and principles held any meaning in politics or action would only be taken after adverse comments from the Supreme Court — as in case of Ashwani Kumar and PK Bansal. “The country wants to know what is more important - satta (power) or rashtra (nation),” he said. He further asked Ashwani to explain whom he was trying to defend by “changing the soul” of the CBI status report if he was innocent. “Ashwani Kumar should tell us why he had to become the scapegoat. Whom was he trying to save?” Singh said. Elections were the only alternative in the present circumstances as the UPA government had “failed completely” on all fronts.
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Coal scam: Cong slams BJP
New Delhi, May 11 Blaming the BJP for budget session washout over demands of resignation of former Railway and Law Ministers, the ruling party said all that the BJP was interested in was “resignations”. “The Congress always works on ideals. The BJP can never do that or even feel the pain of people which we feel. We wanted to bring the food security and land acquisition Bills but the BJP did not let us do so. The principal Opposition party did not behave responsibly,” said Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das. Das said while on the one hand the Leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley supported competitive bidding of coal mines as against discretionary policy in respect of coal allocation, on the other they opposed the government when it sought profit sharing from coal mines.
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M’rashtra CM refutes rumours of moving to Delhi
Mumbai, May 11 But with Kapil Sibal taking additional charge of the Law Ministry and CP Joshi taking over the Railways portfolio, it appears Chavan has been asked to stay put in
Maharashtra.
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Raised incursion issue with China, border agreement talks on: Khurshid
New Delhi, May 11 Stung by BJP president Rajnath Singh’s comments that he had compromised India’s strategic interests, Khurshid said,’’These are nothing but unwarranted expressions. It is not something we will ever allow or even suggested (to us) by anybody for a quid pro quo.’’ Addressing a press conference shortly after his arrival from Beijing this afternoon, the minister said he had firmly conveyed to the Chinese leadership that both countries need to analyse why the Chinese troops intruded into Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector and remained there for three weeks, leading to tension between the nations. ‘’We must analyse why it happened and learn a lesson from it... we must ensure that if such a thing happens again, it must be dealt with greater urgency and less passage of time. ‘’ He said he had held cordial meetings with the Chinese Premier, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and former Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who is now the new Chinese Special Representative (SR) for the border talks with India. ‘’Regarding the recent problem (Chinese incursion), we were on the same page and there was a degree of satisfaction that relevant mechanisms for dealing with such issues did work very well.’’ Both sides were in agreement that such incidents should not be allowed to obstruct meaningful progress in the relationship between the two countries. Khurshid disclosed that the Chinese had some weeks back given to India the draft of a border defence management agreement. India, in turn, had given its own proposals to China on the proposed accord. Referring to his meeting with Chinese Premier Li, the minister said he found the Chinese leader friendly, warm and welcoming in his demeanour. The Chinese leader, who would be visiting India on his maiden overseas official trip, will tour New Delhi and Mumbai. The two sides were looking at the possibility of signing some key agreements, including those on micro irrigation, waste water management and translation of classic and temporary works. The two countries were also discussing a joint statement to be issued at the end of the Premier’s visit to send a strong message to the people of the two countries, the rest of Asia and the world. Following the Chinese Premier’s visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be travelling to Beijing later during the year. The Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries on the border issue would also be holding their 16th round of talks in the next couple of months. He said China had assured him that India’s downstream interests would not be affected. India also flagged the need to expand or set up a separate mechanism to deal with issues pertaining to trans-border rivers.
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While deciding sentence, take into account public abhorrence, SC advises courts
New Delhi, May 11 “Social impact of the crime where it relates to offences against women cannot be lost sight of and per se requires exemplary treatment. Public abhorrence of the crime needs reflection through imposition of appropriate sentence by the court,” a Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam and MY Eqbal held. The Bench made the remarks while upholding the life sentence awarded to a convict, Kumar, from Tamil Nadu for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law and the murder of her one-year-old daughter in August 2003. The convict had raped her after making her unconscious by hitting her on the head as she resisted his attempt. Immediately after this, he also hit
the child who was playing nearby and set both of them on fire by pouring kerosene on
them to project it as a case of suicide. “In the justice delivery system, courts are conscious and mindful of the proportion between the rigour of offence committed and the penalty imposed as also its impact on society in general and the victim of the crime in particular,” the Bench noted. The apex court also cautioned the authorities having power of remission against granting any remission in sentences in such cases without adhering to various principles laid down by it. “We are of the view that the authorities having power of remission have to be conscious and cannot pass any such order of remission lightly,” it said. The trial court had rightly accepted Selvi’s extra-judicial confession “as the same is within the parameters of law and withstood the test of reasonableness and credibility. The convict had a “lustful eye towards his sister-in-law which had been proved beyond doubt,” it said.
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UP court rejects dropping of terror cases against 2 HuJI men
Lucknow, May 11 Barabanki Special Sessions Judge Kalpana Mishra yesterday rejected the application moved by the state government on April 24 regarding withdrawal of cases against the two - Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid - accused in the Gorakhpur serial blasts. They had later been charged for the November-2007 serial blasts across courts in Faizabad, Lucknow and Varanasi. The court said their trial had reached a decisive stage where withdrawal was neither feasible nor in public interest. The state government had last month filed an application in court expressing its willingness to withdraw charges against the two. This was part of Samajwadi Party’s manifesto promising withdrawal of terror cases against innocent youth. The government had told the court in its application that Nimesh Commission constituted by Mayawati government had found anomalies in their arrest. — TNS
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India concerned over US immigration reforms
New Delhi, May 11 Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai held wide-ranging talks with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns here and discussed a wide range of issues, including bilateral ties as well as global developments. Burns visit is in preparation for the forthcoming India-US strategic dialogue scheduled to be held here in the second half of June. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and US Secretary of State John Kerry will lead their respective delegations at the dialogue. During his meeting with Mathai, Burns raised issues relating to preferential market access. There was also a detailed discussion on energy related matters, including reiteration of New Delhi’s interest in LNG sales from the US. Education as a future pillar of the Indo-US relations was also discussed. ‘’We reaffirmed our commitment to pursuing nuclear cooperation with the US. Both sides also agreed to take forward the discussion on commercial aspects of the nuclear agreement,’’ official sources said. Burns also met National Security Adviser Shivsanker Menon and later made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. During his meeting with the PM, Burns recalled the distance the two countries have traversed since early 2000 and attributed the success to the ‘visionary leadership’ of Manmohan Singh. The visit of the US official comes as part of the ongoing process of high-level engagements between the US and India. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu was here last month. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had visited Washington in April. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal is to travel to the US shortly for the education dialogue and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for the homeland security dialogue.
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Over 200 K’taka legislators are multi-millionaires
Bangalore, May 11 Of the 218 assets studied by the Karnataka Election Watch (KEW), 203 of them, that is 93 per cent, are "crorepatis", up from 63 per cent who were 'crorepatis' in the ougoing assembly, the NGO said. The Congress, which won 121 seats of the 223 for which voting took place Sunday, had the maximum number of multi-millionaires -- 112 -- out of the 118 whose assets were analysed, the release said. The Bharatiya Janata Party's 37 legislators out of 40 elected and 36 out of 38 analysed of Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are also 'crorepatis', it said. The number of JD-S legislators is 40. The release said 74 of the 218 legislators analysed have declared criminal cases against them, of which 39 face serious criminal cases such as attempt to murder, kidnapping, dacoity and assault against women. Party-wise, the Congress has 37 out of 118, BJP 13 out of 40 and JD-S 12 out of 38, Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) headed by former BJP leader B. S. Yeddyurappa 3 out of 6, BSR Congress of former BJP minister B. Sriramulu 2 out of4, Samajwadi Party 1 out of 1. Of the five legislators facing murder cases, two are from Congress and one each from BJP and BSR Congress and one Independent. Corruption cases are there against 11 legislators including 4 from BJP, 3 from Congress and 1 BSR Congress and 1 Independent.
— IANS
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2013 is Water Conservation Year
New Delhi, May 11 An effective and sustained mass awareness programme will be launched with the involvement of all stakeholders to achieve the objectives identified in the National Water Policy, 2012 and National Water Mission. Policies and programmes of the Ministry of Water Resources would be propagated to create a sustainable society and economy, they said. India has more than 18 per cent of the world`s population, but only 4 per cent of the world`s renewable water resources with 2.4 per cent of the world`s land area. There are further limits on utilisable quantities of water owing to uneven distribution over time, as 75 per cent annual rainfall is received in just four months. Also region wise it varies from 10 cm rainfall in Rajasthan to 1,000 cm in the North Eastern Region. In addition, there are challenges of frequent floods and droughts in one or the other part of the country. With a growing population and rising needs of a fast developing nation as well as the given indicators of the impact of climate change, per capita availability of water is likely to go down from 1545 cubic metre per year in 2011 to 1341 cubic metre per year in 2025. The increasing demand of water for various purposes will further strain with the possibility of deepening water conflicts among different user groups as drinking water need is going to rise by 44 per cent, irrigation need by 10 percent, industry need by 81 percent respectively by 2025. Water Conservation is also the key objective of the National Water Mission which is one of the eight National Missions under the National Action Plan for Climate Change.
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Court vindicates poll panel, raps Mamata govt
Kolkata, May 11 In a verdict of far-reaching consequences, Justice Biswanath Sommader upheld the primacy of the State Election Commission which had challenged the state overnment's announcement of a two-stage poll under the supervision of only the state security forces. Terming the verdict as "impractical, impossible to implement and unacceptable", state Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee declared that the government would move the Division Bench on Monday. Addressing a rally at Burdwan, Chief Minister Banerjee asserted the elections would be held at the right time despite a "conspiracy hatched by opposition parties to prevent a timely panchayat polls. "We have been trying to hold panchayat election in the state since September (2012). Who has gone to court? Those who will lose- the CPI-M, Congress, the BJP," said Banerjee. The SEC had moved the petition April 1 questioning section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, citing which the Banerjee government March 22 had announced two-phased polls to be held April 26 and April 30, under the supervision of the state police personnel. Justice Sommader directed the state government to finalise the list of election observers and intimate the poll panel about it
by Saturday. The verdict also asked the Banerjee government, which in an affidavit had admitted to a shortfall of security personnel requisite for the polls, to intimate the SEC by Saturday about "fully compensating the shortfall of security personnel by deployment of central paramilitary forces as well as forces from other states". The court described the Banerjee government's refusal to deploy central security forces, despite repeated requests by the poll panel, as "unreasonable". It described the SEC as an "apolitical constitutional body having a pivotal role in conducting and supervising fair elections" , and directed it to draw up the revised poll schedule "as soon as possible", and conduct the elections before the term of existing panchayats expire. "It is absolutely necessary to hold the elections before the expiry of the present term of the panchayat," said Justice Sommader about the existing tenure of the rural bodies slated to expire in June. The government came in for sharp criticism from the court for defending its refusal to deploy central security forces citing financial constraints. "Resources, funds can never stand in way
of elections," said Justice Sommader. The commission has also been asked to notify the political parties, directing them not to use the court's observations in the petition for or during their
poll campaign. The court rap has come at a time the Banerjee government is on a sticky wicket following the Saradha chit fund scandal which has triggered unrest in the state with lakhs of depositors who had parked their hard earned money in the Group companies starign at an uncertain future. Meanwhile, the Opposition hailed the verdict. The Communist Party of India-Marxist as well as the Congress lost no time in castigating the Banerjee government and said the court's decision has justified their stand on
the issue. Not surprisingly commission chief Meera Pandey expressed happiness at the verdict. "The commission is happy that its stand has been vindicated." —
IANS
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Call off pilgrims’ visit to Ajmer Sharif: India to Pak
Islamabad, May 11 According to the statement, Baglay said due to the "prevailing security environment in India following recent bilateral incidents, the Government of India would not be in a position to ensure the safety and security" of Pakistani pilgrims scheduled to visit Ajmer to participate in the annual urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti during May 13-23. "The Government of India has recommended to the government of Pakistan that the visit of the Zaireen (pilgrims) to Ajmer Sharif this year may, therefore,
be called off," the statement said. Diplomatic sources said India had made the recommendation because of tensions created by the deaths of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh and Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay. Sarabjit died after being comatose for almost a week following a brutal assault by prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. A day after his death, Sanaullah was beaten up by a prisoner at Kot
Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. He died later at a hospital in Chandigarh. The Foreign Office said
it had conveyed "necessary advice" to the Religious Affairs Ministry, which organises the visit
to Ajmer. Every year, hundreds of Pakistanis visit the shrine in Ajmer, which is revered by people across the subcontinent. —
PTI
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Rajasthan CM to fund kidney transplant of meritorious student
Jaipur, May 11 Gehlot said he was moved by the story of Jaipur resident Prakhar Deroliya, who secured fifth rank in the merit list of Class 12 (science) results, declared by the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) Thursday, despite currently undergoing dialysis after both of his kidneys failed three years ago. The state government will bear the cost of his treatment taking into consideration the boy's commitment, Gehlot said in a statement here. Gehlot said that as soon as he came to know about how Prakhar achieved the success while fighting against insurmountable odds, he spoke with Dr Naresh Trehan, the founder chairman of Medanta multi-specialty hospital at Gurgaon. "I discussed Prakhar's condition with him. I was so moved by his story that I decided that he will be given free of cost treatment from the Chief Minister's Relief fund," he said. A student of Maheshawari Senior Secondary School at Tilak Nagar here, Prakhar secured the fifth position scoring 96 percent in Gehlot congratulated Prakhar for achieving a place in the merit list despite going through a serious health problem. He said that other children of his age will also get inspired by his determination and enthusiasm. Prakhar's father Sudhir, who is an Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent, said that Prakhar has to undergo dialysis every third day. "He had been seeing doctors for the past seven years, but his condition deteriorated three years ago. He had to undergo dialysis in between examination, but it is amazing how he kept up his spirit and continued his studies," said the proud father. Prakhar's mother Mamta Sharma is to donate one of her kidneys to her son. "Kidney transplant is to take place at Medanta Hospital in the last week of this month. It will cost around Rs.6.65 lakh," said Sudhir. Prakhar wants to get into the prestigious Indian Institute of technology (IIT). He cleared the Joint Entrance Examination-Mains (JEE-Mains), the preliminary round of IIT entrance, the results of which were announced earlier this week. — IANS
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Aizwal Guwahati
jodhpur jaipur ajmer
bhubaneswar Anti-Posco leader arrested : Anti-Posco leader Abhay Sahu was arrested in connection with several cases, including a bomb blast in which three people had been killed at the proposed steel plant site in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district. After his arrest from Bhubaneswar, a court remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. — PTI
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Having sent out strong signals against corruption by sacking two Cabinet ministers considered close to the Prime Minister, the Congress is now likely to go in for an overhaul at both organisational and government levels.
The Opposition BJP today sharpened its attack against the Congress-led UPA government saying given the circumstances Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has no other option left but to relinquish his office.
While announcing that new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang would visit India on May 19, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today asserted that he did raise with the Chinese leadership the recent incursion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Ladakh during his just-concluded visit to Beijing.
