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Muzaffarnagar
clashes
SC allows transfer of policemen
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File status report on SEZs, SC tells Centre, states
Modi invokes Sardar Patel to target Manmohan
Ansari meets Cuban patriarch
Major marries Canadian national, may face dismissal
Andhra bus tragedy: Driver, travel firm owner held
Rising cost of kidney transplant pushing families into financial crisis: PGI study
Polls ahead, Rahul goes tough on Cong leaders
Left to work for key role in formation of next govt at Centre
CM Reddy invokes Indira to press for AP unity
Noted humorist KP Saxena dead
Remove bar on access to Irom Sharmila: NHRC
Maharashtra to push for airport in every district
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Muzaffarnagar
clashes Tribune News Service & PTI
Lucknow, October 31 UP Director General of Police (DGP) Devraj Nagar said, "The kind of incident that happened yesterday can definitely be attributed to lapses on part of the police due to which some people dared to do this (violence). We will take strong action." Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said those responsible for violence would be brought to justice and law would take its own course. "No one is above law," he told reporters in Kannauj. Though no fresh violence was reported today, Muzaffarnagar remained tense under the impact of violence that claimed four lives last night. While eight persons have been arrested in the triple murder in Hussainpur village, an FIR against five named persons was registered in the murder of a woman under the Phugana police station last night. Speaking to reporters, ADG (Law and Order) Mukul Goel, however, described the triple murder of residents of Hussainpur as a case of personal enmity and said till now no co-relation has been established between the two incidents which occurred within an hour of each other in Muzaffarnagar last night. He said in the first case, the three deceased - Afroz, 20, Meherban, 21, and Ajmal, 22 - of Hussainpur, and the main accused Rajendra, a resident of Muhammadpur Rai Singh, were working in fields which were adjacent to each other. A fight started which escalated into a major clash following which Rajendra went to his village returning with many supporters. Goel said the deceased were first abducted and later shot dead. Cases have been registered at Bhaurakalan police station against 15 named and 10 unknown persons, eight of whom have been arrested. In the second incident, which occurred near Phugana village under the Phugana police station, Rajendra Kashyap was travelling by motorcycle with his wife Veena when they were attacked by some people hiding in the sugarcane fields. While he managed to flee to safety, his wife was caught and lynched by the attackers. In his FIR, he has named six residents of Lisarh village as accused for his wife’s death. They are Salamutullah and five others. According to Goel, no arrests have been made in this case as yet as the matter was being investigated by the police. Incidentally, Lisarh is one of the worst affected villages of last month’s violence and officially none of the 325 Muslim families are living there any longer.
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SC allows transfer of policemen
New Delhi, October 31 A three-member Bench headed Chief Justice P Sathasivam passed the order on a petition filed by the state government challenging the stay granted by the Allahabad High Court. The state government contended that it was its responsibility to maintain law and order. Further, the SC was hearing a bunch of PILs on last month's riots in the district and monitoring the relief and rehabilitation of the victims and as such the HC should not have stayed the transfers. The Bench, which included Justices Ranjana Desai and Ranjan Gogoi, however asked the state government to file an affidavit explaining the killing of four persons in fresh violence in Muzaffarnagar yesterday.
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File status report on SEZs, SC tells Centre, states
New Delhi, October 31 A Bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi passed the order on a PIL filed in 2006 by Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi pleading with the SC to strike down the SEZ Acts passed by the Centre and the states in order to prevent loss of revenue and protect farmers’ interests. Appearing for Bishnoi, senior advocate Nidesh Gupta contended that most of the affidavits filed by the Centre and the states were more than five years old and as such did not reflect the existing scenario. In the last five years, more and more SEZs had been set up by acquiring land, he pleaded. Official figures had shown that the government had suffered a revenue loss of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in just five years on account of duty concessions given to the industrial units in SEZs. The loss on this count must have gone up manifold since then, it was contended. The Central SEZ Act 1985 and of the states had conflicting provisions which were not in consonance with the constitutional mandate of equitable growth. The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) which had taken over land rights from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan was allocating even agriculture land for setting up SEZs, the petitioner contended. Bishnoi has pleaded for returning the farm land acquired for SEZs as the losses arising from such zones outweighed the benefits derived from them. The PIL would come up for hearing again in the second week of January.
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Third Front a ‘failed idea’: BJP
New Delhi, October 31 Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said: “Third Front governments are detrimental to governance. No single group in the purported Third Front can hope to win even 25-30 seats in the Lok Sabha”. Questioning who would “anchor” this Third Front, Jaitley said an “unstable anchor could never provide a stable government particularly at a moment when people want stability in governance to rebuild the economy and the nation”. The Third Front, he said, had too many contradictions. “The BSP and the Samajwadi Party cannot simultaneously be a part of the Third Front. The RJD and JD (U) cannot sit together. The Left and the Trinamool Congress cannot be allies. The DMK and the AIADMK cannot be together. Most political parties which occupy the non-Congress space in their states cannot be seen either supporting the Congress or surviving at the Centre with Congress Support,” he added. In what he calls a “dispassionate analysis” of the conference, Jaitley said none of the participants were concerned with the corruption of the Congress. “They were not critical for mismanagement of the economy. They were not concerned with the threats to security emerging from incidents of terrorism. The conference ostensibly of opposition parties refrained from hitting out at an unpopular government. Instead of attacking the incumbent, it sought to challenge the challenger. This is the indirect strategy of helping the UPA,” he said. Also referring “familiar faces” many of whom have shared the government with the BJP in the past, he called their participation in the conference “a part of their new strategy to re-position themselves”.
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Modi invokes Sardar Patel to target Manmohan
Ahmedabad, October 31 Laying the foundation stone of the 182-m-high “Statue of Unity” of Sardar Patel on the 138th birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India at Kevadiya Colony today, Modi referred to the Prime Minister’s recent address in Ahmedabad and said the country today needed the “real secularism” of Sardar Patel and not the Congress’ “vote bank secularism”. Modi said he “fully agreed” with the Prime Minister’s assertion made at the inauguration of the Sardar Patel memorial museum in Ahmedabad that Patel was a “true secular” leader. His “true secularism” did not come in his way of reconstructing the Somnath temple, nor did he adopt separate criteria for unifying princely states belonging to different castes, creeds and community. The “same true secularism” was the need of the hour and not the “votebank secularism”. “If all of us follow his true secularism, the country will not be divided and suffer,” he said. BJP leader LK Advani, who shared the dais with Modi, utilised the opportunity to try to end the controversy over his anger in naming Modi the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. For the first time, he publicly announced that he was “very happy and felt proud” at his party’s choice for the top executive post of the country. After explaining in detail the achievements of Sardar Patel in unifying India, Advani said Modi had taken a remarkable decision in erecting the “Statue of Unity” and he felt “very happy and proud” at such a person being named the prime ministerial candidate by his party. Modi, who laid the foundation stone of the tallest statue in the world at Sadhu bet, a rocky structure on the Narmada river bed 3.32 km downstream of the Narmada dam, also hit back at the prime minister for claiming Sardar Patel as the Congress legacy.
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Ansari meets Cuban patriarch
Havana, October 31 Later replying to reporters' questions on board the special Air India flight from Havana to London today, Ansari allayed fears about Castro's health. “He is frail but in good shape as much as an 87-year-old can be... His mental faculties are intact... If he can talk for one hour and five minutes, that shows the state of his health. He spends his time on gardening and horticulture,’ said Ansari. Though Ansari dubbed it a 'social engagement' instead of a government one, Ansari shared with the media Castro's concerns about security threats to peace and growing pile of deadly arsenal. He fondly recalled his visits to India. Many Indians may recall Castr's bear hug with a reluctant India Gandhi, pictures of which were splashed all never newspapers. Rumours about Castro's health have been constant since his younger brother Raul took over the Presidency in 2006. The Vice President's wife, Salma, and India's Ambassador to Cuba C. Rajasekhar as well as Cuban Minister Bruno Parilla were also present at the meeting. Though Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa was the last to meet Fidel Castro on September 21 this year, Castro had last appeared in public in October, 2012. The last images of Castro to be made public were in March 2013 when he briefly met Pope Benedict during the pontiff's visit to Communist island nation. Social media sites often speculate that he may even have died. Castro did not personally cast his vote in the last elections. He filled in his ballot paper at home, and it was delivered to a polling station. In an article in the official Cuban newspaper Granma a day after his 87th birthday Fidel Castro said he didn't expect to survive the stomach ailment and live for so long. Castro quit office for treatment in 2006 but only formally resigned as the Commander-in-Chief and President of Cuba in February 2008. A new US book recently claimed that Fidel Castro actually submitted to questioning by the Warren Commission after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The book "A Cruel and Shocking Act: the Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination" by Philip Shenon, reveals a "secret that has held for 50 years". Hamid Ansari also called on Cuba’s President Raul Castro briefly here before emplaning the flight for London. India will gift 50 buses to Cuba next year -- 25 in the first half and 25 later in the year-- in view of Cuba's problems of funding transport, according to the Vice President. The prolonged sanctions against Cuba have taken their toll on the Cuban economy, but it bravely fighting the challenge with help from friendly countries. Raul told the visiting Indian dignitary that his government had taken a number of decisions to 'open up' the economy, though he did not use these words. Cuba's slowing growth has forced a rethink on restructuring.
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Major marries Canadian national, may face dismissal
New Delhi, October 31 The Army has initiated an inquiry against the officer after it came to light that he had married the Indian-origin Canadian national without getting clearance from the Service. The Major, who was till recently posted with the elite National Security Guards, is facing the inquiry for marrying the Indian-origin woman in 2010, a year after she was granted permanent Canadian citizenship, sources told PTI here. The officer allegedly did not furnish information about the status of his wife's permanent citizenship to the authorities, they said. The sources said he was allegedly in touch with the woman for quite some time before marrying her and knew about her citizenship status. The citizenship of the officer's wife was revealed after he applied for leave to go abroad to meet her, they said. After the matter came to light, the officer was repatriated from NSG to his parent unit, which is deployed in Jammu and Kashmir. The officer has admitted to the lapses on his part and is understood to have pleaded that he may be allowed to quit the Service through voluntary retirement, sources said.
If the officer is indicted by the inquiry, he may even be terminated from Service,
they said. "Under the Army Act, officers have to seek permission from the Service before contacting foreign nationals even if he subsequently wants to marry that person, otherwise they are liable to face action," military law expert Col Rajiv Manglik said here. — PTI
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Andhra bus tragedy: Driver, travel firm owner held
Hyderabad, October 31 Owner of Jabbar Travels, Shakeel Jabbar and driver Feroze were arrested from Kothakota in Mahabubnagar district, Wanaparthy DSP Srinivas Reddy told PTI over phone. The owner failed to have a second driver in the bus, allowed excess passengers, failed to maintain a list of passengers and allowed unaccounted-for cargo, the DSP said. — PTI
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Rising cost of kidney transplant pushing families into financial crisis: PGI study
Suggestions by researchers
Chandigarh, October 31 This was revealed in a study conducted at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and the George Institute of Global Health, New Delhi. A total of 43 men and seven women aged between 7 and 57 who underwent renal transplant at the PGI Chandigarh between March and September 2011 were administered a questionnaire to ascertain the direct as well as indirect expenditure that they and their families had to incur and the resultant crippling effects it had on them. A total of 38 families had job losses, while one patient and 12 caregivers dropped out of studies. These patients included those from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, northern states and a few from Chandigarh.The study published in PLOS One, an open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science, said direct expenses ranged from Rs 1.3 lakh to Rs 14.2 lakh and accounted for two-thirds of the total expenses. “Need for Out Of Pocket (OOP) financing leaves the Indian population exposed to risk of unforeseen expenditures. Most patients do not have health insurance and meet treatment expenditure from their own resources," said Dr Vivekanand Jha of the George Institute and Professor of Nephrology at the PGI, Chandigarh, adding that India did not have a clear-cut healthcare reimbursement policy, which made matters worse. "Having a sick member forces financially constrained families to choose between cutting household expenditure and going without treatment," said Dr Raja Ramachandran of the Department of Nephrology at PGI.
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Polls ahead, Rahul goes tough on Cong leaders
New Delhi, October 31 For this purpose, special appraisal forms have been printed and dispatched to all the 43 Congress secretaries who are supposed to get back to the party organisation with responses at the end of each month. The practice which has begun from October seeks to test Congress leaders on a range of counts with secretaries supposed to inform the party high command the minutest details of their movement. "In your role as secretary AICC, please provide details of the outcomes achieved and the process used to achieve them", says the first question. Another one requires detailing of the monthly tours undertaken in the states assigned to them. If that was less, every secretary would now have to keep day to day tabs on district and block units of the party if they want to answer the remaining questions in the four page proforma sent to them. "List the number of district Congress committees in which the district committee and all the block committees held monthly meetings; also list the percentage of district committees where monthly meetings took place," says the appraisal form further seeking secretaries to inform the party organization how many of the meetings did they attend.
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Left to work for key role in formation of next govt at Centre
New Delhi, October 31 Yet, it predicted that the Left will play a key role in the formation of a next government at the Centre. The CPI said it would prefer state-specific alliances and seat adjustments in the General Election so as to ensure the emergence of “a strong Left bloc in the next Lok Sabha that can play key role in the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP government in the post-poll period”, CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said at a press
conference at the conclusion of its National Council meeting. Emphasising that the party will conduct continuous struggle against communalism and for secularism, the CPI expressed serious concern over the deteriorating communal situation in various parts of the country, especially the Hindi heartland. “The Sangh Parivar is spreading communal poison with the aim of hastening the process of communal polarisation. The BJP has come totally under the grip of the RSS and returned to its original agenda of Hindutva”, the party general secretary said. Both the CPI and the CPM separately maintained that the effort was in no way related to the formation of any political front ahead of the 2014 General Election and predicted that any possible Third Front can and would emerge only after the results are out. The CPM said the tone and tenor of speeches at the convention organised by the Left parties and the Janata Dal (United) “convincingly punctured the campaigns of disinformation and insidious communal propaganda currently being carried out by the RSS/BJP.
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CM Reddy invokes Indira to press for AP unity
Hyderabad, October 31 Speaking after paying floral tributes to Indira Gandhi, on the occasion of her death anniversary today, he recalled that the former Prime Minister had steadfastly stood for keeping AP united and said: “I am following in her footsteps and repeating what she had said in support of integrated state.” “While replying to a debate in the Parliament on December 21, 1972, Indira Gandhi had declared that she was an integrationist and stood for keeping AP united,” said Reddy. “She had said: “I stand very firmly for an integrated state. There is no state in India which does not have backward areas. Relatively backward and advanced areas exist not only in all states but in different regions of the same state. The Telengana region may be a backward region but it does have better-off areas. Merely because an area is comparatively backward is not reason enough for taking drastic or irreversible decisions. There is an overall rationality in the formation of our various states and we should be very careful not to break this foundation of rationality in momentary passions,” said Reddy. Praising Indira Gandhi for keeping the state united in the face of separate statehood agitations in the past, Kiran said, "If we are all united in Andhra Pradesh and if the country has developed so much, it is only because of Indira Gandhi. She was such a great leader." The Chief Minister was speaking at an official function in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam. "She successfully controlled the agitations for separate Telangana and Andhra to keep the state united for the overall development and welfare," he
said.
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Noted humorist KP Saxena dead
Lucknow, October 31 Saxena (81), who was suffering from cancer of the tongue and had been operated upon recently. He was awarded Padma Shri in the year 2000. He had written the dialogues of many popular Hindi films, including ‘Lagaan’, ‘Swades’, ‘Hulchul’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, which was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue. His articles and columns were widely published. He had migrated to Lucknow from Bareilly, his birthplace, in the 1950s. Both actor Aaamir Khan and director Ashutosh Gowarikar had, two months ago, enquired after the health of the
ailing Saxena, family sources said. Governor BL Joshi, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and other
senior political leaders have condoled Saxena’s death.— Agencies
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Remove bar on access to Irom Sharmila: NHRC
Guwahati, October 31 Taking suo motu cognisance of the issue, the commission said the restrictions were in breach of the country’s obligations under international human rights standards and principles, and a grave violation of human rights. In a notice to the Chief Secretary of the Manipur Government, the commission has said Sharmila must be permitted to receive visitors under the regime that governs all persons in judicial custody. It said if the state government could deny permission to its Special Rapporteur, a retired Director General of Police and to Special Rapporteurs of the UN, to visit Sharmila, it is unlikely that it gave others access to her. It would appear since her death would create problems for the state government; it was trying to dent her spirit through this enforced isolation, for which there was no judicial mandate. Two members of the commission and some senior officers had met Sharmila on October 23. She was found frail, but alert and did not complain of any physical ill-treatment. However, she repeatedly said she was rarely allowed visitors. Sharmila has been on fast under confinement since November, 2000 demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in the state.
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Maharashtra to push for airport in every district
Mumbai, October 31 Airport projects in Maharashtra are bogged down by land acquisition problems. Apart from the high-profile airport at Navi Mumbai, projects at Shirdi in Aurangabad district and greenfield facilities at Solapur and Sindhudurg are among those that are proceeding at a snail's pace. The government is still in the process of identifying land for constructing a new airport at Pune. Chavan recently told reporters that he wanted every district in the state to have all-weather airports with night-landing facility as part of a major infrastructure upgrade. Maharashtra has 29 airports spread over its 35 districts. However most of them are small airfields and do not handle commercial flights. Only eight airports in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Nanded and Latur handle scheduled flights.
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Havana, October 31
