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Lalu convicted in fodder scam
Lalu's Black Cat commandos may be withdrawn
Verdict very satisfying, says former Accountant General
Rabri, son to take over RJD’s reins in absence of Lalu
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Party is behind PM, says Sonia
Rahul’s opinion holds value: Congress
N-pact with Canada comes into force
India, China discuss border defence pact
Meerut clash: BJP MLA Som’s
brother arrested, wife booked
SC tells Centre not to allow clinical trials for 162 drugs
SSP shifted
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Lalu convicted in fodder scam
New Delhi, September 30 Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said the party respected the ruling of the special court. He, however, asserted that the ordinance meant to overrule a Supreme Court ruling on disqualifying convicted MPs and state legislators was not meant to save the RJD leader. Responding to senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's observation that Lalu Prasad was a victim of political conspiracy, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy sought to know who the conspirators were-the Congress itself or its new friend JD-U. Targeting the JD-U and the Congress, he said while two former Bihar Chief Ministers-Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra (a former Congress CM, presently with the JD(U))-had been found guilty by the special CBI court, a third chief minister (read Nitish Kumar) may soon find himself in the same net. "A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in a Rs 900-crore (Animal Husbandry Department) scam in the Jharkhand High Court in which a third CM may be indicted," Rudy said lamenting how a series of chief ministers from Bihar were facing corruption charges much to the chagrin of the 10 crore "hapless" people of Bihar. Mishra was the CM when the Congress was in power, Prasad's RJD supports UPA and Kumar's JD-U, after break up from the NDA, is now cozying up to the ruling party at the Centre. Lalu Prasad, Rudy said, had managed to "survive all these years because of political compromises and hospitality of the Congress-led UPA government". "Lalu Prasad successfully used the CBI all along with the Congress help. It seems, he has run out of its favour now," he said. The BJP is sensing a win-win situation from the change in political equations in Bihar that sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Rudy also went on to juxtapose the current judgment with the national scenario and demanded to know from the Congress what its approach would be when it came down to other scams: "2G, coal-gate, CWG and rail-gate". BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Lalu "became a balancer for the UPA in its pursuit of coalition politics. He had a vested interest in supporting the UPA. Besides being in power, he could manage to manipulate the CBI that had been prosecuting his case".
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Lalu's Black Cat commandos may be withdrawn
New Delhi, September 30 Sources said a decision to withdraw the commandos could soon be taken as the threat perception to Lalu, also an MP, scales down in view of his conviction and restriction of movement. The NSG commandos provided him mobile security based on "extant" of threats and the Union Home Ministry might take a decision in that regard soon, they said. A squad of 30 commandos, with one small team at one time, has been deployed for Lalu's security whenever he travels in any part of the country. The NSG was provided to the former Railway Minister after a threat perception analysis favoured such a security ring around him few years ago. — PTI
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Verdict very satisfying, says former Accountant General
“It is very satisfying for me and my daring team members who had assisted me in the probe. Every official should do his duty with conviction and expose misappropriation of public money”, he said. The former AG, who had relentlessly worked along with the team, had filed 45 different cases between 1996 and 2000 while probing the over withdrawal of money from state treasuries, had to face threats from the supporters of the Rashtriya Janta Dal leader Laloo Prasad. While probing the case, his car was attacked by unscrupulous elements when he was on his way home. “Certain leaders of the RJD had approached me to alter facts. But I refused and preferred to do my duty”, he recalled. Nand Lal, now settled in Chandigarh after retiring as Director General (DG), CAG office at Delhi, said, “During 1996 and 2000, their team unearthed, among other, bitumen scam, medicine scam, engineering college nomination scam and fertiliser scam. But it was the fodder scam that got highlighted”. West Singhbhum DC is happy, too Amit Khare, a senior official in the HRD Ministry who is credited with unearthing the multi-crore fodder scam during his tenure in Bihar, has "appreciated" the verdict of the special CBI court in Ranchi convicting 45 persons, including Lalu Prasad. Khare, a 1985 batch IAS officer, was West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner when he unearthed the scam in January 1996 by conducting raids on the offices of Animal Husbandry Department, seizing documents showing syphoning of funds by non-existent companies in the name of supplying fodder. — PTI
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Rabri, son to take over RJD’s reins in absence of Lalu Asked about impact of the court order on Rashtriya Janata Dal's future, Rabri, who has had three stints as Chief Minister of Bihar, said she and her son would run the party in the absence of Lalu Prasad "as he had created the party and nourished it". "As Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are guiding Congress, which their ancestors had created so too we will provide strength to RJD to keep it strong," she said after the CBI court at Ranchi delivered its verdict. 54-year-old Rabri Devi has two sons -- Tej Pratap and Tejaswi Yadav, who had accompanied Lalu Prasad to Ranchi for the crucial court proceeding today and is being looked upon as the heir apparent. "Rabri Devi is our leader. She is still there to guide us," party secretary General Ramkripal Yadav said after the court verdict. Rabri Devi had been pushed into forefront of Bihar politics in 1997 when she became the chief minister of the state, having been chosen by Prasad to replace him after he relinquished the post in the wake of fodder scam. She had served as the chief minister again from 1999 for about a year and then again from 2000-2005. Asked about the role Tejaswi will play, Ramkripal said the party would decide the future role of leaders. Senior RJD leader Prabhunath Singh said that party workers have faith in Lalu Prasad so they will continue to work with the same dedication even in his absence. Speaking to media persons at her residence, Rabri Devi said: "Laluji has become a victim of Opposition conspiracy". She said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had raided her house as well as her relatives' houses, but failed to recover any money of fodder scam. "Nothing was recovered from our house, it was a conspiracy to frame Laluji," she said. "Laluji was sent to jail earlier in the fodder case also, but the RJD remained united and intact. We are confident that party will go on," she said. Rabri Devi angrily said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Janata Dal-United MP Shivanand Tiwari were also involved in the fodder scam, but they were not made accused and had been enjoying power in the state. — PTI
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Party is behind PM, says Sonia
Bangalore, September 30 Addressing a huge rally held at Mandya in Karnataka today, Sonia Gandhi spoke about various welfare measures such as the Food Security Bill and legislation on land acquisition initiated by the Union government and said all these achievements were made under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “The whole party stands by the Prime Minister,” the Congress president said. Rahul Gandhi recently said that the controversial ordinance should be torn and thrown away, leaving his party and the government in utter confusion. The Opposition hit out at the Congress vice-president’s statement saying that Rahul had deliberately undermined the position of the Prime Minister. Sonia had called up the PM in USA the day Rahul made the comments and had reportedly assured him that there was no question of running him down. Yesterday, she praised the Prime Minister at an event in Kerala, lauding the welfare and social security schemes for marginalised people initiated by the UPA government. Today’s rally at Mandya, which is about 100 km away from Bangalore, ostensibly to enable Sonia to thank the people of Karnataka for electing the Congress, is believed to be, in reality, an attempt to woo the state’s numerically strong Vokkaliga community for the Lok Sabha polls next year. The Congress recently won the Vokkaliga-dominated Mandya and Ramanagar Lok Sabha seats in the bypoll prompting the party to consider winning over the Vokkaligas who have traditionally backed the JD(S).
United front
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Rahul’s opinion holds value: Congress
New Delhi, September 30 Dismissing contentions that the Congress vice-president's action has insulted PM’s position, Dikshit said: "Rahul did not make any comment on the PM, he spoke on the ordinance."— PTI
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N-pact with Canada comes into force
New Delhi, September 30 The announcement was made by Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lynne Yelich in Ottawa a few days after External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Canada. “This coming into force (of the agreement) results from Canada’s vigorous efforts to reach new markets for energy exports, creating job opportunities for Canadian business. The Canadian nuclear industry currently supports 30,000 direct jobs across the country,’’ the Canadian High Commission announced here today. India and Canada had signed the civil nuclear accord in June 2010 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to that country, breaking a new ground in the history of cooperation in this sector between the two nations. Earlier, India and Canada had a long but rocky relationship in the field of nuclear cooperation after India conducted the nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. The two countries had signed the Appropriate Arrangement pursuant to the India-Canada nuclear cooperation agreement on April 8, 2013. The civil nuclear accord and the supporting Appropriate Arrangement will allow Canadian companies to export nuclear items for peaceful uses to India in accordance with Canada’s nuclear non-proliferation policy.
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India, China discuss border defence pact
New Delhi, September 30 The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs concluded its two-day meeting in Beijing this afternoon. The Indian delegation was led by Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the External Affairs Ministry, and consisted of representatives of the External Affairs, Defence and Home ministries as well as members of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The Chinese team was headed by Ouyang Yujing, Director General at the Department of Boundary in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and comprised representatives of various departments concerned. A joint statement said the talks were held in a candid, constructive and forward-looking atmosphere. ‘’Reviewing recent developments in the India-China border areas, especially in the Western sector, the two delegations agreed that peace and tranquillity on the border is the basis for the continued expansion of India-China relations,’’ it added. Both sides discussed further measures to maintain stability on the border, building on existing understandings and arrangements. The two countries have held a series of meetings over the past few weeks as part of the preparations for Manmohan Singh’s visit in the second half of October. Breakthroughs in border management and addressing growing trade imbalance would dominate the agenda of the PM’s much-anticipated visit. The two sides are working overtime to finalise the BDCA so that it could be clinched during Manmohan Singh’s visit. The pact envisages interaction between area commanders on both sides to help manage the incidents along the border in an effective way. Such an accord will perhaps be more useful for India to deal with Chinese incursions, like the one that took place in Ladakh in April-May.
Peace vital for expansion in ties
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Meerut clash: BJP MLA Som’s
brother arrested, wife booked
Lucknow, September 30 Speaking to reporters, ADG law and order R K Vishwakarma said that Sardhna inspector Pundheer today lodged 10 FIRs in this connection in which 106 people have been named, including the wife of the MLA Preeti Som. Cases have been registered against 3,500 unknown people. Among those arrested is the MLA’s personal assistant Chandrashekhar. Vishvakarma could not confirm the arrest of the MLA’s wife in connection with yesterday’s violence. Clashes between the police and villagers broke out at Kheda village in Sardhana in Meerut yesterday when the crowd became violent as the police resorted to lathicharge in order to disperse them. The mahapanchayat which had been banned by the district administration, had been called to protest against the imposition of NSA against Sangeet Som for inciting the Muzaffarnagar riots by uploading fake videos. Uneasy calm prevailed in Meerut today. The police action on protesters has once again provoked anger amongst the imprisoned MLA’s supporters who have been complaining against the state government’s alleged high-handedness. Meanwhile, a lawyer was arrested in connection with the clash, which has triggered protests from advocates. The agitating lawyers met Merrut SSP Deepak Kumar to protest against the arrest and later went on strike. The SSP assured them that the matter would be probed.
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SC tells Centre not to allow clinical trials for 162 drugs
New Delhi, September 30 A Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha said that a system must be put in place to protect the lives of people and asked the Centre not to allow clinical trials for untested medicines. The Centre assured the apex court that it would not allow clinical trials for 162 drugs permitted by it earlier. The Bench also asked the Centre to consider suggestions of various stakeholders in putting in place the mechanism to avoid any serious and adverse impact. The court had earlier said that clinical trials of untested drugs on humans require certain mandatory standards to be followed and had also directed the government to put in place a mechanism to monitor those. It had directed the Centre to convene a meeting of Chief Secretaries or Health Secretaries of all the states to frame a law for regulation of clinical trials of drugs by multi-national pharma companies. Earlier, the apex court had said that uncontrolled clinical trial of drugs by multinational companies was creating "havoc" and slammed the Centre for failing to stop the "rackets" which caused deaths. — PTI
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SSP shifted
Lucknow, September 30 SSP Deepak Kumar has been attached to the DGP office while SP Ballia has been sent to Meerut as the new SSP, they said. Raju Babu Singh, presently attached to the DGP office, has been sent to Ballia as the new SP. At least 20 persons, including security personnel, were injured and a number of government vehicles damaged in a clash between villagers and the police over holding a mahapanchayat in Khera village in Meerut defying ban orders. — PTI
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Chandigarh, September 30
Patna, September 30
We cannot say anything as it is the judgment by the court. In this political turmoil, the RJD and the Lok Janshakti Party will be together.
I am sad Lalu has been found guilty. He has been framed. And, I am hopeful he will provide evidence in the higher court to prove his innocence.
Fodder scam verdict convicting so many big leaders is an assurance for probity in our polity.