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PM asks Lanka to free Indian fishermen
Govt to move amendments to food Bill in Lok Sabha
Railgate |
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Cong expels MLA for praising Modi
Pro-Telangana MPs want govt to keep its word
Tunda was in touch with ISI ex-chief
Pakistani snipers target Indian posts in Jammu
Durga Shakti Case
One more body retrieved from Sindhurakshak
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PM asks Lanka to free Indian fishermen
New Delhi, August 19 The PM’s comments came at a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris, who handed over to him a letter of invitation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo in November. While thanking Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for deputing Peiris to personally hand over the invitation to him, Manmohan Singh said Colombo should consider the arrests of fishermen as a humanitarian issue. Peiris informed the Prime Minister of the recent developments in Sri Lanka, including the arrangements being made for the elections to the Northern Provincial Council. The Lankan minister also met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. The two ministers discussed various aspects of India-Lanka relations, especially economic cooperation. Meanwhile, the AIADMK and the DMK raised the Lankan issue in the Rajya Sabha and asked the PM to boycott the summit in view of Lanka’s ‘failure’ to provide succour to the Tamil minorities in the country. “The people of Tamil Nadu want to know whether the PM would respect their sentiments by pulling out of the summit,” V Maitreyan (AIADMK) said, pointing out that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had written two letters to Manmohan Singh in this regard. The PM’s presence at the summit would amount to endorsing the policies of the Lankan regime, he said.
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Govt to move amendments to food Bill in Lok Sabha
New Delhi, August 19 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held an hour-long meeting with his Cabinet colleagues to take a call on which among the proposed amendments could be accepted by the Government to ensure smooth passage of the Bill. Lok Sabha sources told The Tribune that the Opposition parties had moved more than 250 amendments to the National Food Security Bill 2013. The Government has zeroed in on 12 amendments for consideration. Among these are the following - The Bill should be in perpetuity and its coverage should be universal instead of targeted. Following the meeting with the PM, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said, “We met to discuss which of the proposed amendments are doable and which ones are not. The Government is willing to move some amendments provided these are acceptable to all political parties. Changes broadly accepted by all will be moved as official amendments by the Government. There should however be no attempt to politicise the Bill. Amendments which are agreed upon would have to be vetted by the Law Ministry before they can be moved.” Government sources said suggestions about making the law universal and in perpetuity were not accepted at the PM’s meeting with ministers saying these were politically motivated. “We discussed 12 amendments. Of these, the one which seeks the Bill to be in perpetuity instead of the current three-year period is a political demand and not doable. Same is the case with universal PDS demand. But some changes that are workable are being discussed,” said a UPA source. The meeting was attended by Food Minister KV Thomas, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju and PM’s secretary Pullock Chatterjee. Accepting some amendments is part of Government strategy to push the Bill which has been awaiting passage since August 5 when the Monsoon Session started. The Bill has been disrupted by TDP members who, despite repeated appeals by the Speaker, the Government and the Opposition BJP, have refused to give up their anti-Telangana agitation. The passage of the Bill is critical for the UPA, considering two Congress-led governments - those in Delhi and Haryana, are rolling out the scheme tomorrow on the occasion of former PM Rajeev Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Asked if the Government had convinced the protesting MPs to allow the Bill tomorrow, Kamal Nath said, “The Speaker will take a call.”
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Railgate
Chandigarh, August 19 “While I had approved the proposal for appointment of Mahesh Kumar as member (staff) on April 18, the accused told him on April 20 that the file relating to Member (Staff) had not been moved by me. Mahesh Kumar never wanted to become member (staff) as it stopped his chances of becoming member (electrical),” said the MP. Reacting to recent utterances by BJP leaders against him, the former Railway minister, while putting the events in perspective, said the Opposition was only giving selective parts of the conversations recorded by the CBI. The complete conversation seen in light of the official record pertaining to the appointments will clear the air, he said. There were three posts in the Railways that were falling vacant on April 30. These were of member (mechanical), member (staff) and of member (traffic). The post of Chairman of the Rail Board was falling vacant two months later. What Mahesh Kumar wanted was that the posting of member (staff) be put on hold for two months, the current member (electrical) be promoted as Chairman of the Railway Board once the current Chairman retired and that he should then be made member (electrical) against the vacant post so created. “I simply followed the rules without any sort of favour to anyone. Mahesh Kumar was appointed as member (staff) exactly as per the norms, as he was the senior-most person. No eligible officer senior to him, fulfilling the norms governing appointments, was superseded. Mahesh Kumar was not given charge of Western Railway either, although this had been done in a number of cases earlier,” he pointed out. As per the conversations recorded by the CBI, Bansal said the interlocutors just spoke anything that came to their imagination and dropped all sorts of names to impress Mahesh Kumar. Citing examples from the transcripts, the MP said he had signed the file appointing Mahesh Kumar as member (staff) on April 18 and sent it to the ACC, as per rules, the same day.
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Cong expels MLA for praising Modi
Patna, August 19 “Yadav has been expelled from the party for indefinite period,” said Bihar Congress president Ashok Chaudhary. He said the decision to expel Yadav from the party was taken by Gopalganj District Congress (DCC) President Raj Kumari Gupta after the former failed to reply to the show cause issued to him. Chaudhary said another Congress leader Dasai Chaudhary, who had accompanied Yadav to met Narendra Modi, has also been issued show cause by Vaishali district Congress president and appropriate action would be taken by the district chief. State Congress media in-charge Prem Chand Mishra said that Yadav, who had unsuccessfully contested from the party ticket from Bettiah Lok Sabha seat, has been shown the door for “gross indiscipline”. Yadav, the estranged brother-in-law of Lalu Prasad, had embarrassed the Congress by singing paeans to Narendra Modi and making light of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. “In comparison with Rahul Gandhi, I strongly believe that Narendra Modi has much better qualities to become Prime Minister of our country,” Yadav told media after his meeting with Modi at his Gandhinagar office on Friday last. — PTI
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Pro-Telangana MPs want govt to keep its word New Delhi, August 19 The MPs, led by Ponnam Prabhakar and Madhu Gaud Yakshi, assured the Antony panel that there would be no misgivings against the people from the Seemandhra regions of the state settled in Telangana. They petitioned the committee not to give in to the pressure from the anti-Telangana lobby that had been seeking the quashing of the Congress Working Committee resolution favouring a separate Telangana state. "We have simply stated that the Congress must remain firm on its decision and must not be taken in by the misinformation being spread about the fallout of carving out a Telangana state," one of the delegates who met the committee said. The committee headed by Defence Minister AK Antony and comprising Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and Congress president's political secretary Ahmed Patel was set up recently to address issues arising from the CWC resolution, including the sharing of resources between Telangana and the remaining Andhra state. MPs from the anti-Telangana lobby, meanwhile, remained huddled in a two-hour meeting this evening to discuss their strategy for their scheduled meeting with the Antony panel tomorrow.
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ISRO cancels GSLV launch at 11th hour after fuel leakage
ISRO chairperson K Radhakrishnan told reporters at the ISRO spaceport at Sriharikota near Chennai that the launch was being called off following detection of a “leakage” in the liquid stage of the three-stage rocket. “The launch of the GSLV-D5 scheduled for 1650 hrs today is called off, as a leak is observed in the UH25 fuel system of the liquid second stage during the pre-launch pressurisation phase on the vehicle,” an ISRO statement posted on its website said. Radhakrishnan, who made the announcement less than two hours before the slated time for the launch, did not specify any future date for the firing of the rocket. “The revised launch date will be announced after a detailed assessment,” the statement on the ISRO website said. The 29-hour countdown for the launch, that was to put the 1982 kg communication satellite GSAT-14 in the orbit, had started at 11.50 yesterday morning. The propellant feeling operations of all three stages - the first solid stage, the second liquid stage and the third and final cryogenic stage - were over when the launch was called off. The propellants are being drained out from the cryogenic stage, liquid second stage and the four liquid strap-ons of the GSLV-D5 launcher. The vehicle will be moved back to the vehicle assembly building for further actions. The launch was being watched with a lot of interest by the spacefaring community in India and abroad as well as by ordinary Indians since its success would have meant reaching of an important milestone by the ISRO. One of the main reasons for the huge interest in the progress of today’s launch was because of the indigenously built cryogenic upper stage (CUS) of the launcher. Following Russia’s refusal to pass on the cryogenic technology to India, ISRO scientists have been trying to master the technology for last two decades. The first flight-testing of an indigenous cryogenic engine carried out in April 2010 was a failure. Today’s launch, had it materialised, would have been the second flight-testing of an indigenous CUS. Unlike its workhorse PSLV(polar satellite launch vehicle), the technology of which has been mastered by ISRO (the launch of the 1425 kg IRNSS-1A by PSLV C22 last month was the 23rd successive successful flight of PSLV), the space organisation has a troubled past with the GSLV. The last two GSLV launches - one with an indigenous CUS and the other with a Russian one - were both failures. Only two of the seven GSLV launches so far has been a total success. It is important for India to perfect early the technology for the heavy lift rocket as seven satellites — both communication and earth observation ones — are lined up for launch by GSLV rockets. Even the Chandrayaan-2 (mission to moon) is slated to be launched with GSLV rocket. At present the heavier satellites are launched by ISRO through foreign private company, Arianespace, that get a hefty fee from ISRO for the service. Setback to the mission
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Tunda was in touch with ISI ex-chief New Delhi, August 19 Gul was the head of the ISI from 1987 to 1989. Tunda first met him in 1995 after reaching Pakistan via Saudi Arabia and remained in touch with him until the day he was arrested. Tunda told investigators he was also in touch with other ISI agents who had instructed him to operate in India as he was well aware of the country. The ISI agents whom he came in touch with operated a fake Indian currency racket in India. The fake currency was being smuggled into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border. “Tunda revealed that the LeT is a tanzeem (organisation) functioning under the ISI. There are several such tanzeems run by the ISI,” the officer said. The officer said underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and the ISI were funding Tunda’s madrasas in Pakistan in return for using his well-connected Bangladesh network. “He said he met Dawood’s aide Chhota Shakeel and some other associates. He says he can recognise them, but cannot remember a few of them by their names,” said the officer. Investigators claimed Tunda had allegedly visited Bangladesh, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and West Asian countries to indoctrinate youths for “jihad”. “Waris, Tunda’s son from second wife Mumtaz, was caught by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Waris has remained in jail for eight years,” said the officer. He returned to Pakistan after his release. Never met him: Gul Hamid Gul has rubbished reports of being in touch with Tunda. “He (Tunda) is lying. There is no truth in his claims. I have never met him… I retired from the ISI on June 1 1989. Tunda claimed he got in touch with me in 1995, but by then I had retired from service. I don’t know Dawood Ibrahim. I don’t know Tunda,” Gul said.
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Pakistani snipers target Indian posts in Jammu
Chandigarh, August 19 BSF top brass has directed local commanders to respond to enemy activity from across the border in an effective and calibrated manner. BSF Special Director General Rajdip Singh said on August 11, a single round fired from Pakistan’s New Chinor post seriously injured a BSF trooper posted at the Alfamachan border outpost. Earlier, on August 5, sniper fire from Pakistan’s New Awam hit a BSF constable Ram Niwas, who later succumbed to his injuries at AIIMS, New Delhi. Counter-fire by BSF killed a Pakistani ranger. On July 27, Pakistani snipers from Jagwal post targeted a BSF observation post, injuring a BSF trooper. BSF, in retaliation, killed two Pakistani rangers. Pakistan’s so-called Border Action Teams (BATs) are known to be active along the IB and the Line of Control to assist infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir and also to target Indian posts. The BSF recently foiled two BAT attempts to foment trouble. On the intervening night of August 13 and 14, BSF troops detected movement of heavily armed terrorists through surveillance devices in the Krishnaghati area. BSF troops opened fire and the terrorists also retaliated and ran towards the LoC, taking advantage of thick vegetation and bad weather. Simultaneously, posts from across the LoC started indiscriminate firing to assist the terrorists. The BSF action prevented a likely terrorist attack on Indian posts. Earlier, BSF troops in the Rajouri sector neutralised two terrorists who were members of a BAT team that had infiltrated across the LoC with the intention to inflict casualties on Indian forces. In this incident, the BSF had recovered two AK-47 rifles with nine magazines, five Chinese hand grenades and other items. Pointing out that in the recent past, there has been a spurt in ceasefire violations, Rajdip Singh said since May, there have been 31 instances of violations in Jammu region and eight cases along the LoC, which indicates desperation of the ISI and Pakistani forces to get terrorists to infiltrate into the Indian territory. Besides Indian posts, Pakistan is targeting villages along the border. This month, BSF recovered close to Rs 5 lakh along with Pakistani SIM cards from RS
Pura.
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Durga Shakti Case
New Delhi, August 19 A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam directed the court registry to list the plea for hearing on August 26 after the petitioner, advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, mentioned the case to explain the urgency. Last week, the SC had declined to hear his PIL seeking revocation of the suspension order against the 2010 batch IAS officer, observing that she was capable of defending herself and no public interest petitions by a third party could be entertained on the issue. Nagpal, who was the Sub-Divisional Officer in Noida, was suspended on July 27 on the charge of demolishing the wall of a mosque in a village without following the due process.
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One more body retrieved from Sindhurakshak
Mumbai, August 19 According to the naval authorities, the body was discovered by divers. The body has been sent to the state-owned JJ Hospital for postmortem and DNA analysis. So far, divers have opened the submarine’s hatches in three places and are searching through its dark interiors.
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Bangalore, August 19