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BJP downplays rift on PM candidate issue
Govt to try to convince SC on minority sub-quota
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98% of power production target met: Govt
Wind up intel unit set up during VK Singh’s tenure: Probe report
SC seeks status report on Panipat highway
PIL: Quash Sharma’s appointment as CAG
Assam-Nagaland border row claims one life
27 years after Mizo Accord, cases pending against rebels
Navy inducts auxiliary craft
Pak diplomat alleges assault
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BJP downplays rift on PM candidate issue
New Delhi, June 3 Lapped up by the Congress as an evident sign of “differences” in the saffron fold, they sought to downplay Advani’s statement saying it had been wrongly interpreted. So while in Delhi BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the veteran leader had been misunderstood, speaking to the media in Hyderabad party president Rajnath Singh tried damage-control by terming Modi as the “most popular leader” in the country. “I think Advani’s statement has been wrongly interpreted. There cannot be two opinions that Narendra Modi is the most popular leader in the country,” he was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, Chouhan described Modi as his “senior and elder brother”. Ruling himself out of the PM race, he said Advani had not praised any individual, but the style of functioning of party CMs. But the way the situation is developing, the BJP will have to soon make its choices clear on the contentious issue. Senior party leaders say it is “just a matter of time” before the party declares its hand on its prime ministerial candidate, which “in all possibility will be Modi”. “The kind of straightforward person that Modi is he too wants the party to take a decision either way so that the ball for 2014 can be set rolling. The party executive in Goa will discuss the issue and take a call much before November-the deadline set by JD-U to decide the PM candidate,” he said. Praising Chouhan as a “humble” person, Advani had on Saturday said while Gujarat was already a “healthy” state when Modi assumed charge and transformed into the “best” what Chouhan did was to successfully turn around a BIMARU (laggard) state into a developed one. This was seen as a reminder by the veteran leader to the party that others were equally capable-a sentiment that he had expressed earlier as well. The situation in the BJP is being very closely watched by the Congress, which hopes to make the most of the much evident disharmony in the opposite camp on the issue of prime ministerial candidate. Making fun of the way Advani pitched Chouhan against Modi, I&B Minister Manish Tewari yesterday tweeted: “The BJP story by Advani ji. Chauhan ji versus Modi versus Rajnath ji versus Sushma ji versus Jaitley ji versus Gadkari ji. RSS versus BJP ji - Civil War in Pariwar ji”. Tewari’s sarcastic comment evoked a forceful response by Rudy, who called it an attempt by a “distressed” Congress minister to divert attention from his “corrupt government”.
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Govt to try to convince SC on minority sub-quota
“We (the Government) will try to convince the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court that the sub-quota is not religion-based, but is on the basis of backwardness,” he told a seminar here. “Religion-based reservation is not legitimate, but we can do inclusion on the basis on religion. All class and religion are given proper representation in the formation of Cabinet or a selection committee and inclusion can be done on this pattern,” he said while asking Union Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman to put up the point before the apex court. Khurshid, who was speaking at the seminar on ‘7 Years After Sachar’, also said, “Reservation is not granted to a particular caste, but if all people of that particular caste are backward, they can be granted reservation. “Similarly, there may be such religions which may have backward people, so reservation should be granted on the basis of backwardness,” he said. He also said that the objective of the government’s planning behind ‘Equal Opportunity Commission’ was to ensure representation to all class in various sectors. Khurshid clarified that it was not meant to provide reservation to those who are not entitled for quota as
was misunderstood by some, particularly in the minority community. In the next session of the seminar, which was held to discuss implementation of the recommendations of Sachar committee regarding social, economic and educational status of Indian Muslims, Khan said the government would make efforts to expedite the reservation matter pending before the Supreme Court.
— PTI
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Implement Aajeevika Mission early: Sonia New Delhi, June 3 Giving a thrust to poverty alleviation in her address at the second anniversary of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Sonia said the empowerment of weaker sections and women had been the main pillar of the UPA government. The pitch for the scheme comes at a time when the Congress party is bracing for Lok Sabha elections besides Assembly elections in five states, including BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, this year. The Congress president also chose the occasion to announce that a special package is being prepared for the North-East and hilly states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to give a fillip to such measures. Exactly a year ago, Gandhi had unveiled the NRLM to reach out to BPL families through self-help groups (SHGs) and said the network of such groups comprising women would be strengthened. She said in the next 10 years, seven crore BPL families had to be freed from poverty, which was not an easy job. “But by adopting the Aajeevika Mission, many states have proved that through women SHGs, economical and social changes can be brought to the rural areas. “Seeing this success, it seems that now the Aajeevika Mission will have to be implemented fast across the country especially in central and eastern India,” she said. Hailing the NRLM as an important programme of the UPA, the Congress president claimed that such an ambitious and huge scheme for the empowerment of women existed nowhere in the world. The NRLM has set out with an agenda to cover seven crore BPL households across 600 districts, 6,000 blocks, 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and 6 lakh villages through self-help groups and support them for livelihood collectives in a period of 8-10 years. The Congress president also noted that the UPA had initiated measures for the social and financial empowerment of women in Jammu and Kashmir through the instrument of women SHGs. She also referred to a woman SHG member from the state, who spoke from the dais on how the scheme “Himayat” had empowered her financially. Empowering poor
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DMK patriarch Karunanidhi turns 90
Chennai, June 3 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi conveyed their greetings to the DMK patriarch at his residence, where his son M K Stalin was also present, party sources said. Karunanidhi has his hands full facing issues like the sibling rivalry involving his sons, elder son Alagiri and Stalin to gain control of the party, the 2G case and virtual political isolation after pulling out from UPA this March. However, the DMK first family was in full attendance with former Union Minister Alagiri, daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and grand nephew, former union minister Dayanidhi Maran,greeting him at the residence. Senior party leader T R Baalu and former Telecom Minister A Raja also called on the leader and greeted him. Scores of supporters thronged the party headquarters “Anna Arivalayam” as the birthday celebrations are seen as an attempt to pep up the party with hardly a year left for the Lok Sabha polls, considered crucial for the DMK after being trounced by arch rival AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly elections. Party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets across the state on the occasion. Upset by continuing internal bickering in his party, Karunanidhi, a five-time chief minister, had recently made a fervent appeal for unity, saying he was grieved over the fact that there was enough squabbling in the ranks that would harm the party more than any external factor. Adding to his woes is the cloud of the 2G spectrum allocation scam, in which Kanimozhi and Raja are accused. A former ally of the Congress, the DMK withdrew support to the UPA and pulled out its five central ministers over the issue of alleged human rights violations of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, party sources said a host of programmes have been got up to celebrate the occasion including blood donation camps and a public meeting to be chaired by Karunanidhi later this evening.
— PTI
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K’taka to implement Mishra, Sachar panel reports
“This will include promoting and monitoring their access to schools, higher education and health services, encouraging their participation in the MGNREGS, and facilitating their access to bank credit,” Governor HR Bhardwaj said in his customary address to joint session of the legislature. The state government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also used the address of the Governor to mount an attack on the previous government. “In the past few years, Karnataka has been held in a very low esteem on account of the large number of scams and corruption cases that have come to light”, the Governor said. He, however, refrained from naming the BJP. “Public money has been swindled and developmental works have come to a halt. Consequently, people have lost faith in political parties. The growing public cynicism has proved detrimental to democratic traditions”, Bhardwaj said. He said the Congress government would strive hard to regain the lost confidence of people by ensuring a clean and accountable administration. Bhardwaj said a lax administration invariably paved the way for corruption. “In the coming days, the mark of my government will be reflected through efficient, effective and transparent administration”, Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj also announced that an Agriculture Price Commission would be set up to ensure that farmers get remunerative price for their produce. In order to promote exports and value addition, the government proposes to link horticulture farmers to agri-business in the country and abroad by setting up high-tech clusters. “The entire set-up of horticulture marketing would be revamped to make it more responsive to the needs of the farmer”, Bhardwaj said. He also said that the government was committed to provide safe drinking water to rural areas. There are 5,875 villages where water is affected by fluoride, arsenic and nitrate besides other chemical contaminations. “The model ‘Pure Drinking Water Unit’, as installed in Gadag district of Karnataka, will be provided in all problematic villages. One thousand such units will be commissioned by 1st January, 2014”, he said.
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98% of power production target met: Govt
New Delhi, June 3 It said that not only had its power production gone up from 2011-12 but as against the power generation target of 930 billion units (BU) for the year 2012-13, it had achieved 911.65 BU, which was 98 per cent of the target. In 2011-12, there had been a power generation at 876.9 BU. As against the power generation level of 587.4 BU in 2004-05, the power generation has almost double in 2012-13, the government claimed. It said that while the country’s total installed capacity of electric generating stations as on March 31, 2013, was 2,23,343.60 MW, the total demand was 1,35,453 MW. The Power Ministry claimed that this achievement had been possible due to renovation and modernisation of old power plants, easy availability of coal and gas for the power sector and the review of projects at the highest level to ensure projects are commissioned on time. Officials at Power Ministry said that the sector had seen positive growth over the 11th Plan period. It registered a growth rate of 3.96 per cent in 2012-13 and the peak deficit in the year was 9 per cent against the deficit of 10.6 per cent in the year 2011-12. The decision to add generation capacity of 88,537 MW, import 82 MT of coal, reduction in transmission and distribution losses is expected to bridge the gap between peak demand and peak demand met, the officials said. The Planning Commission has sought capacity addition of 88,537 MW from conventional sources for the 12th Five Year Plan on an all-India basis. With the aim to reduce the Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT&C) up to 15 per cent in the country and improvement in power distribution sector, the government had launched the Restructured-Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) in July 2008. The focus of R-APDRP is on actual demonstrable performance by utilities in terms of sustained AT&C loss reduction.
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Wind up intel unit set up during VK Singh’s tenure: Probe report
New Delhi, June 3 The TSD, a top-secret Army intelligence unit, was under suspicion for allegedly using off-air phone interceptor to listen to phone conversations of important people, rather than using the machines in border areas to snoop on enemy conversation. An official of the rank of Lieut-General last week forwarded a probe report for further action, sources said. The aim of the probe was to audit TSD functioning, sources added. The TSD was suspended, but not disbanded, when former Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma objected to a sudden and unusual surge in the use of secret funds by the Army’s Military Intelligence (MI) in June last year. He had sought details from the Service on the funds that were spent on pursuits “not exactly military in nature”. The Tribune was the first to report the matter on July 18, 2012. The officers were transferred. However, the unit itself and the men posted are stationed in New Delhi, awaiting orders. An internal Army probe has established that two of the such off-air phone interceptors were destroyed when the matter became public. The former Defence Secretary had asked the MI to explain the nearly 33 per cent increase in spending of secret funds during the financial year ending March 2012 over the previous year. In terms of figures, the government wants to know how Rs 67 crore was spent under a particular head during the last financial year as compared to an expenditure of Rs 49 crore in 2010-11. As per laid down norms, secret funds of the MI, like those of other snooping agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, are not subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). In case of the Military Intelligence, an internal audit is conducted at a high-level and the file is cleared by the Defence Secretary. The audited report remains secret and is neither tabled in Parliament nor can it be accessed through the Right to Information Act. Funds are allocated under the Budget and have to be spent as per the mandate of the agency. THE REASON
The Technical Support Division was under suspicion for allegedly using off-air phone interceptors to listen to phone conversations of important people, rather than using the machines in border areas to snoop on enemy conversation
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SC seeks status report on Panipat highway
A Bench comprising Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Madan B Lokur asked the company to provide details on the extent of work already carried out on the project and the time required for completion of the remaining work. The company has come to the SC challenging the HC verdict taking away the project from it and handing it over the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) Limited. Arguing for the company, senior counsel UU Lalit said his client was ready to submit status reports every 4-6 weeks if the contract given to it was restored. Though the work was stopped at the instance of the HC order, it was still in possession of the project and even today was carrying out maintenance work. Lalit said the company had completed 70 per cent of the construction and this had been acknowledged even by the HC. The Bench, however, directed the company to give details of the completed and pending work in the form of an affidavit and posted the matter for next hearing on June 7. NHAI sought to assure the court that it was in a better position to complete the pending work within a reasonable time frame.
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PIL: Quash Sharma’s appointment as CAG
New Delhi, June 3 Filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the PIL contends that the government did not follow any proper system for the appointment of the CAG. There was no selection committee, no criteria, no transparency and no call for applications or nominations. The process was entirely arbitrary and opaque and thus completely violative of the rule of law and several judgments of the SC, the petitioners said. The SC has already agreed to hear another PIL filed by advocate ML Sharma challenging Sharma’s appointment on similar lines. Both the PILs are likely to come up for hearing on July 3. Among the other grounds on which the appointment has been challenged is the fact that as Director General (Acquisitions) and Defence Secretary Sharma had cleared several controversial defence purchases. “One of the defence deals that is a major source of embarrassment to the government involves the procurement of 12 VVIP choppers for the Indian Air Force from Italy. This deal was cleared by Sharma in 2010 when he was the DG. This Rs 3,500-crore deal with an Anglo-Italian firm Agusta Westland has been investigated by Italy and Italian prosecutors have in their chargesheet stated that a kickback of at least Rs 350 crore was paid to swing the deal in the company’s favour,” it said.
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Assam-Nagaland border row claims one life
Guwahati, June 3 Jorhat Deputy Commissioner RC Jain said a villager from Assam was killed when miscreants from Nagaland fired upon a group of farmers near a Naginijan tea estate. The deceased has been identified as Sanjay Bhumij, a tea estate labourer. The miscreants crossed over from the Nagaland side before opening fire on a group of villagers, prompting the Assam police to open fire and chase away the miscreants. Sanjay Bhumij who was working in a field along with some others near the inter-state border was killed after being hit by a bullet. Various organisations, including the All-Assam Students’ Union and the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association, have declared an indefinite blockade of roads leading to Nagaland through Assam in reaction to the killing. Congress legislator Rupjyoti Kurmi, who represents the Mariani Assembly segment, accused the Assam Government of failing to protect its citizens from miscreants from across the inter-state boundary. “The Chief Minister as well as three ministers who recently visited Mariani only made promises to protect our people from miscreants from across the inter-state border. In reality, there is hardly any security,” Kurmi said in Mariani. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of Sanjay Bhumij.
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27 years after Mizo Accord, cases pending against rebels
Guwahati, June 3 Still, a number of criminal cases are pending against some of the former MNF rebels though these were supposed to be dropped as assured by the Government of India before signing of the Accord. Members of Ex-Mizo National Army (erstwhile militant wing of the MNF) Association today demanded that particular three criminal cases filed by Manipur government against three former Mizo National Army rebels -- Lalzarliana, Lalbiakhluna and Vanlalhruaia - were still pending and the mental agony caused by the pending case has made Lalzarliana a mentally deranged person now. The criminal cases in question were registered by Manipur government as per FIR No.303 (6) 1984 U/S 396/397/121-A/326 IPC RW 25 Arms Act & 13 UAP Act. After signing of Mizo Accord when the MNF formed two subsequent government in Mizoram, respective MNF chief ministers of Mizoram had requested the CM of Manipur, Governor of Manipur and President of India several times to drop these cases, but in vain. The former Mizo National Army (now disbanded) members also demanded government assistance for rehabilitation and looking after a large number of mentally imbalanced and elderly Mizo women who were alleged raped and tortured by Indian Army in the armed conflict with MNF during 1966-86, especially after the MNF declared Mizoram an ‘Independent State’.
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Navy inducts auxiliary craft
Kochi, June 3 The vessel is named after a ship which was decommissioned in 2007. Rear Admiral S Madhusudanan, Superintendent of Naval Ship Repair Yard (NSRY), who was the chief guest at the induction ceremony, expressed optimism that the barge would enable faster turnaround of warships at Kochi. He complimented Shalimar World Limited of Howrah, a 125 year-old company and presently wholly owned by the West Bengal Government, for delivering the vessel in seven months, a defence press release said.
— PTI
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New Delhi, June 3 The Pakistan High Commission has lodged a strong protest with the Ministry of External Affairs over the issue, its spokesman Manzoor Ali Memon said tonight. He said Zargam Raza, First Secretary (Trade), was going home in Vasant Kunj from office in Chanakyapuri area when two persons on a motorcyle hurled abuses at them at around 6.30 pm. When this was objected to, Raza and his driver Haider were allegedly beaten up by some people there, Memon alleged. — PTI
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Three days after LK Advani praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan in what was seen as a clear attempt by the veteran BJP leader to undermine the growing stature of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the party leadership today went in an overdrive to dispel speculations of “internal rift” on the issue of prime ministerial candidate.
Jaipur, June 3
Bangalore, June 3
New Delhi, June 3