|
|
|
|
|
Pak minister coming, trade prospects look up
S Korea wants to set up N-plant in India
8.5% interest on EPF likely
In a first, Rahul to meet all dist chiefs, AICC members
|
|
|
Cong mocks AAP’s Amethi challenge as popularity stunt
Religion can’t be the basis of hatred: PM
Today, India completes three polio-free years
MoD waives recovery of excess pension from military doctors
Oppn slams UP minister on camp death remarks
UP CM launches projects worth Rs 1,078 crore
Ramdev urges Nitish to back Modi as PM
Protesters oppose toll collection, burn
down booths in Maharashtra town
Sena launches stir against Reliance over power tariff
Birla group executive held with drugs
BJP mulls truck with AGP in Assam
Maoist killed in Odisha
In Goa, Modi attacks Shinde for playing ‘communal’ politics
|
|
Pak minister coming, trade prospects look up
New Delhi, Janaury 12 Khan, who will be accompanied by a high-level business delegation, will attend the SAARC business conclave and hold talks with Commerce Minister Anand
Sharma. On Tuesday, Pakistan Commerce Secretary Qasim Niaz will arrive to meet his Indian counterpart and prepare the ground for the meeting between the two Commerce
Ministers. The Pakistan minister will also meet representatives of Indian apex chambers of commerce. “The two sides will explore the possibility of win-win cooperation,” sources here
said. Relations between the two countries were marked by increased tension during 2013 due to the beheading of an Indian soldier and frequent ceasefire violations along the
LoC. Signs of improvement in relations came in December when Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Punjab province Chief Minister and Premier Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother, visited India. Thereafter, the DGMOs of the two countries also met in late December and decided to maintain peace along the border. During the Commerce Minister’s meeting, India is likely to raise the issue of Pakistan not having granted the MFN status despite repeated assurances. India had accorded the MFN status to Pakistan way back in
1996. Pakistan is likely to ask India to reduce non-tariff barriers for Pakistani products to provide a level playing field and more access to Indian markets as well as a liberalised visa regime for Pakistani
businessmen. The two sides are also expected to discuss the arrangements being made for a ‘Made in India’ exhibition of Indian products to be organised in Lahore in mid-February.
|
|
S Korea wants to set up N-plant in India
New Delhi, January 12 The government first wants to complete the projects already initiated, including Kudankulam III and IV and Jaitapur, which are facing hurdles on various counts. But India is willing to have cooperation with South Korea in other aspects of the nuclear field, like research. South Korea conveyed its desire to build a nuclear plant in India when a delegation from its Ministry of Science came here recently, sources said. This was preceded by a visit of a team of Department of Atomic Energy to South Korea to discuss possible cooperation in the nuclear field in November last year. Sources said India was not very keen on having Korean nuclear reactors immediately. The DAE first wants to concentrate on existing plants and deal with the issues such as liability over which many foreign collaborators have raised questions. “We would first want to clear the impediments for projects that are already in pipeline and then move on to another projects,” said a senior DAE official. Currently, all power plants are running behind schedule. — PTI
|
|||||
|
8.5% interest on EPF likely
New Delhi, January 12 The EPFO’s apex decision making body - Central Board of Trustees (CBT) - is scheduled to meet tomorrow to decide on the PF interest rate for this fiscal. The EPFO, which is estimated to have an income of Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current fiscal, needs Rs 20,740 crore to pay 8.5 per cent interest to the subscribers. The EPFO had provided 8.5 per cent interest in the 2012-13 fiscal, which was higher than 8.25 announced in 2011-12. According to estimates, hiking the interest payment by half a per cent to 9 per cent would require an additional amount of Rs 1,220 crore, which does not seem feasible. The trustees are meeting tomorrow after a gap of almost a year. — PTI
|
|||||
|
In a first, Rahul to meet all dist chiefs, AICC members
New Delhi, January 12 The two-day assembly will follow the January 17 All-India Congress Committee session where Rahul’s elevation, either as the party’s prime ministerial candidate or Lok Sabha campaign committee chief, is
expected. Sources in the Congress confirmed that the meeting had been scheduled for January 18 and 19 and would be, in many ways, an extension of the AICC session where the party would reiterate its position on policy issues, including economy, politics and
security. Presidents of all frontal organisations of the Congress, Youth Congress, National Students Union of India, Mahila Congress and Sewa Dal would also be present in the two-day
meeting. “It would be a huge assembly of nearly 1,000 people. This is for the first time that anyone in the Congress central leadership will directly interact with the district presidents and AICC members. It’s a sign of churning. The event will allow one-to-one interactions between Rahul and Congress workers at the grassroots, which will enrich strategy preparations for the Lok Sabha polls,” a source in the party
said. The meeting is expected to deliberate on the Lok Sabha issues ahead of the polls as well as state-specific challenges. From Haryana, 32 district Congress committee presidents and 38 elected AICC members have been invited for the meeting. From Punjab, 27 district Congress presidents and 36 elected AICC members and from Himachal Pradesh, 14 AICC members and 12 district Congress Committee presidents will attend the
meeting. “The meeting’s political significance lies in Rahul’s repeated stress on connecting to the grassroots to ensure ground voices are reflected in the Lok Sabha ticket selection and strategy preparation,” a source in the Congress said.
Tribune exclusive
* This will be Rahul’s first formal attempt to reach grassroots ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to deal with the state-specific
challenges * Sources say the meeting will ensure that ground voices are reflected in the Lok Sabha ticket selection and strategy preparation
Sources in the Congress said that Rahul had instructed the general secretaries in charge of states (who are members of Lok Sabha candidate-screening committees announced on January 9) to complete the candidate-screening process by January 31. After the deadline expires, the central election committee of the party will meet and probably announce tickets by early
February.
|
|||||
|
Cong mocks AAP’s Amethi challenge as popularity stunt
New Delhi, January 12 Notwithstanding frenzied responses of Amethi crowds to Vishwas’s emotional pitch to end dynastic presence in the parliamentary constituency, the Congress insisted that the AAP leader was invoking Rahul to muster instant
publicity. “Rahul, a two-time MP from Amethi, had won with thumping majorities. Anyone who opposes him gets his moment of glory. This is the old route people take in politics to instantly shoot into fame. Rahul will register another win in Amethi,” Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha told The Tribune
today. He said Vishwas’s appeal to vote out Rahul in Amethi was an insult to the democracy as Amethi had repeatedly reposed faith in the Congress
vice-president. The sentiment of dismissal resonated through top circles with party leaders maintaining that Vishwas (43 years old as Rahul) had no credibility to take on the Gandhi scion as he was embroiled in controversies such as anti-Muharram remarks and the CD sting that caught him accepting
money. “Investigations are on. There are tapes where Vishwas is on camera making disparaging remarks against women. He has no credibility. Democracy is not a poetic licence to abuse people at a personal level. Amethi will show him the reality,” Jha said mocking Vishwas’s poetic pitch in Amethi
today. Meanwhile, the AAP appeared in a bind today as three top official spokespersons for the party declined to take questions on Vishwas’s Amethi rally, saying they had not followed the event as they were engaged locally or were out of town. Raj Babbar, Bhakta Charan Das and Meem Afzal excused themselves when
contacted. UP leaders of the Congress, however, privately admitted that the AAP could be a factor in the state as a whole, but dismissed the challenge in
Amethi. In 2012 UP elections, Congress candidates lost in eight of the 10 assembly seats. They lost all five in Sonia’s Rae Bareli and three of the five segments in Rahul’s Amethi. In another Congress bastion Sultanpur, they were wiped
out. Asked what the party thought of Kumar Vishwas doing an Arvind Kejriwal (who defeated Sheila Dikshit in Delhi) in Amethi, Jha laughed dismissively saying “Delhi was
different”. Subroto Mukherjee, a former Delhi University professor and analyst, argued: “The Delhi experiment of Sheila’s defeat has created euphoria and in UP, the Congress is a diminishing force. That trend is unlikely to change in 2014. The AAP will be a potential challenger in Amethi, though it would require imagination beyond the usual negative brand of politics to unseat Rahul. It could also be their ploy to restrict Rahul to Amethi and prevent his canvassing outside. The Congress must watch out.”
Amethi’s LS history
* In 1977, Bharatiya Lok Dal’s Ravindra Pratap Singh defeated Congress’ Sanjay
Gandhi * In 1998, BJP’s Sanjay Singh (currently Cong MP from Sultanpur) defeated Congress’ Satish
Sharma * Cong winners in Amethi - Vidyadhar Bajpai (1967-71, 1971-77); Sanjay Gandhi (1980); Rajeev Gandhi (1985, 1989, 1991); Satish Sharma (1996); Sonia Gandhi (1999); and Rahul Gandhi (2004 and
2009).
|
|||||
|
Religion can’t be the basis of hatred: PM
New Delhi, January 12 Addressing a function here to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the Prime Minister said, “It is no use celebrating Swamiji’s life, paying our respects to his ideas and teachings and honouring his memory if we do not imbibe the values that he
advocated”. The function was also addressed, among others, by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi where Defence Minister AK Antony was also
present. “I believe there are at least three central messages of Swamiji’s teachings that are truly timeless and have universal appeal,” the Prime Minister
said. “Firstly, that all the great religions of the world seek peace on Earth and goodwill among all human beings. Secondly, India’s true liberation would come when every Indian feels liberated from the scourge of poverty, ignorance and
disease. “And finally, that India, this great motherland of ours, has much to learn from the world around us and, equally, much to teach the world and that a two-way flow of knowledge between India and the world can only be to our benefit and the benefit of all humanity.”
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi while invoking the legacy of Swami Vivekananda asked the people to battle against religious fanaticism of all hues that threatens the
region. She hailed the relevance of his teachings, especially for the youth, and said the nation should not fail them in fulfilling the aspirations of the young to be educated, governed and employed better.
Antony, while paying tributes to Swami Vivekananda said, Swamiji was probably the first modern Indian saint to understand the value of youth in nation-building.
The formal inauguration of this commemoration was held on January 12, 2013 by President of India at a function in the Rashtrapati Bhawan auditorium.
|
|||||
|
Today, India completes three polio-free years
New Delhi, January 12 This will mean that the World Health Organisation would certify the country -- and the entire South-East Asian Region (SEARO) -- polio-free by late March or early April. For a region to be declared polio-free, all countries therein must go without a single polio case for three years in a row. India recorded its last occurrence in West Bengal’s Howrah on January 13, 2011. Also, it is WHO regions such as SEARO which are declared polio-free and not individual nations. The January 13 milestone is a major success for India’s public health programme as experts once considered India the most technically difficult place to end polio. Data shows that as recently as 2009, India was home to nearly half the world’s polio cases. Experts from Global Health Strategies point out, “High population density, migrant populations and poor sanitation in India presented exceptional challenges to eliminating the disease. With commitment from all levels, India launched a comprehensive polio effort and built a robust health infrastructure to eliminate the disease.” "This effort included a surveillance network of more than 33,000 reporting sites, an army of 2.3 million vaccinators deployed during national immunisation days, strategies to reach children with vaccines, even in the country’s hardest-to-reach areas resulting in delivery of 900 million doses of oral polio vaccine in 2011 alone," Global Health Strategies documentation shows. Now that India has completed three years of not having a polio case, decks are cleared for a high-level pre-certification meeting on February 11 followed by official certification by the WHO in March. That said, now only three countries remain polio-endemic -- Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan which can use India’s example to stop polio -- a crippling and life-threatening viral disease.
Indigenous diabetes kit to be launched
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad will on Monday launch an indigenous diabetes kit priced at less than Rs 10. This will revolutionise diabetes screening in India, which is moving fast to overtake China as the world diabetes capital. Screening is a huge issue in diabetes control but indigenous, easy-to-use kits developed by ICMR, will make things easy.
|
|||||
|
MoD waives recovery of excess pension from military doctors
Chandigarh, January 12 But a fresh round of litigation may come up as a recent Supreme Court judgment had stated that NPA has to be considered towards fixation of pensionary
benefits. In its orders issued a few days ago, the MoD has stated that on receipt of representations from individuals as well as associations, the government has reconsidered the matter on humanitarian grounds and has decided to waive the recovery of excess amount of the element of NPA paid to retired armed forces doctors from September 2001 to March
2008. The government had decided to recover the excess amount after armed forces doctors has lost their case in the Supreme Court for counting NPA towards fixation of benefits. Doctors are paid several thousand rupees per month as
NPA. The MoD order also states that the amount of excess NPA already recovered so far would not be
refunded. About two months ago, the Supreme Court, in a detailed judgment in a separate case, had ruled that NPA needs to be added for fixation of retirement benefits.
|
|||||
|
Oppn slams UP minister on camp death remarks
Lucknow/Ballia, January 12 Under fire, the minister, however, said deaths cannot be averted and people died at the camps of riot-hit victims despite all arrangements made by the state
government. "No deaths took place at relief camps in Muzaffarnagar due to mismanagement on part of the government as it had made adequate arrangements of food, lodging and medical treatment for the victims," Rai told PTI in Ballia over
telephone. The minister had yesterday said, "Deaths of children, adults and elderly are inevitable. It isn't necessary that only those living in camps are dying. People die in palaces too. It isn't that children in our homes don't die. Deaths occur everywhere." Condemning the Sports and Youth Welfare minister's comments, BJP said instead of making such insensitive remarks, Rai should have gone to the camps and ensured prompt relief for the
victims. "It is insensitive on the part of the minister, who should have accepted the lapse on the part of the government and owned the responsibility," party chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak
said. "The SP government and its ministers are insensitive towards the plight of the people," he
said. "This government and the party as a whole has become totally insensitive and inhumane towards the people," senior Congress leader and MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh said. — PTI
|
|||||
|
UP CM launches projects worth Rs 1,078 crore
Lucknow, January 12 He laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 1,078 crore here and health centres at a cost of Rs 74 crore. He also launched a mobile phone scheme for Asha bahus, auxiliary nurse midwives and in-charge health officers. — PTI
|
|||||
|
Ramdev urges Nitish to back Modi as PM
Patna, January 12 "I appeal to Nitish and other leaders like N Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik to rally behind Modi in the larger national interest to remove maladies like price rise, corruption, poverty and unemployment front the country," he told reporters. Ramdev, who arrived here on a two-day visit, showered praise on the Gujarat CM. — PTI
|
|||||
|
Protesters oppose toll collection, burn
down booths in Maharashtra town
Mumbai, January 12 This comes after the Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced the end of toll collection in Kolhapur. Though toll collection was halted for a few hours it resumed this morning sparking off anger among the local residents, sources said
here. The state police said several hundred people descended on the nine toll plazas and chased away the employees manning the booths. While two plazas at the entrance to Kolhapur were gutted, seven others were badly damaged by rioters, the police
said. Last week, more than a dozen people had commenced an indefinite fast against toll collection in Kolhapur. The state government then decided that the Kolhapur municipal corporation would pay the road builders for the facilities built by them from its
coffers. It remained unclear why IRB Road Builders, the road building company, resumed toll collection this morning. Toll collection by private companies running over several years in Maharashtra is a sore point in many places in the
state. In Kolhapur, an all-party action committee comprising leaders from the Shiv Sena, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and the Peasants and Workers Party had been at the forefront in the agitation against toll
collection. Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan told mediapersons that the government was in the process of finding a solution. “We are trying to find a way out. People should not disturb law and order,” said
Chavan. The police have detained several people for rioting and vandalising the toll booth
equipment. The Shiv Sena, which claims to be leading the protests, said this evening that Kolhapur residents would not pay toll because the roads were poorly constructed and badly
maintained. The party has called for a Kolhapur bandh on Monday over the issue.
|
|||||
|
Sena launches stir against Reliance over power tariff
Mumbai, January 12 On Friday, party leader Anil Parab organised a demonstration outside the company offices demanding that power tariffs for residential users be reduced by 50 per cent. “We want the government to intervene and get the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission to reduce power tariffs for suburban Mumbai,” Parab
said. The state government is already working out a formula to subsidise electricity for domestic
users. At present, Reliance Infra charges the highest power rates in Mumbai with users consuming between 300 and 400 units per month paying nearly Rs 8 per unit.
|
|||||
|
Birla group executive held with drugs
Mumbai, January 12 The NCB arrested Anant Vardhan Pathak, a top executive of the Yash Birla Group, his peon and security officer last night from a five-star
hotel. All three were produced before a local court which remanded them in NCB custody till January
16. NCB zonal director Rohit Katiyar confirmed the arrest but refused to divulge details, saying an investigation was under progress. The case came to light after the
investigation department of Income Tax conducted a search at a five-star hotel in South Mumbai in connection with taxation purposes against the Group last week. When the sleuths went to the hotel room where Pathak was staying and started conducting searches, they found some
contraband. The NCB confirmed around 5 gm cocaine was seized from the
scene. "After we received the information, we seized the contraband and recorded the statements of IT officials and also of Pathak," a source
said. The three have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the source said. — PTI
|
|||||
|
BJP mulls truck with AGP in Assam
Guwahati, January 12 BJP’s national spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad informed here that the party’s leadership has entrusted Assam state BJP unit president Sarbananda Sonowal and party’s in-charge of Assam SS Ahluwalia to take a final decision in respect of a tie-up with the AGP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in Assam. Prasad, however, stated that the BJP was also fully prepared to contest polls alone in Assam as the party’s popularity has increased in the state during the last few years and emerged as the alternative to the Congress. He informed that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would address a public rally in Guwahati on February 8. Meanwhile, the steering committee of AGP has entrusted its president and former chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and executive president Atul Bora to take decision on election alliance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Both the BJP and the AGP share almost the same vote bank in the Brahmaputra valley areas in Assam. Out of the total 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam, 11 are in the Brahmaputra valley, two in Barak valley in South Assam and one in hill areas. Of the Brahmaputra Valley constituencies one (Dhubri constituency) is a bastion minority voters and a fiefdom of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), while Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency is a stronghold of Bodo political party, Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). The BJP has strong hold in South Assam’s Barak Valley constituencies of Silchar and Karimganj.
Men who will explore alliance for LS poll
* BJP: Assam BJP unit president Sarbananda Sonowal and party’s in-charge of Assam SS Ahluwalia *
AGP: Former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and executive president Atul Bora
|
|||||
|
Maoist killed in Odisha
Malkangiri (Odisha), Jan 12 Acting on intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists, security personnel, including BSF men, conducted an operation inside Chittipali forest in Chintrakonda area in Malkangiri district near Andhra Pradesh border, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh said. One Maoist was killed while the rest fled the scene, he said. — PTI
|
|||||
|
In Goa, Modi attacks Shinde for playing ‘communal’ politics
Panaji, January 12 "Just look at their brazenness. They are playing communal politics. The Home Minister has written a letter to state governments that if you arrest a law breaker, see that Muslims are not arrested. Why is it so? Does a law breaker have any religion," he said while addressing a rally
here. "Will religion decide the fate of a law breaker whether he should be arrested or released? There should be no discrimination on basis of religion. One should not be punished for belonging to a particular religion but this should be for all people. There should be no vote-bank politics," Modi
said. He said when the Prime Minister is asked about such letters, "he expresses surprise over them and says he will look into the matter. This is how he reacts and responds." The BJP has hit out at Shinde for the way he is taking up the issue of criminal law where only public prosecutor and judge can take a final call on withdrawing cases and said the Home Minister is "ill-advised" on the matter as he has no right to withdraw such
cases. The BJP prime ministerial candidate made a veiled reference to the removal of Jayanthi Natarajan from Environment Ministry, saying for the first time, he had heard of "Jayanthi tax" apparently referring to swirling allegations during her
tenure. "There was a storm over the Environment Ministry and all files were blocked. No file was moving without money. We had heard of income, sales and excise taxes but for the first time, we heard about a ‘Jayanthi tax’ in Delhi without which nothing was
moving. "Till the time that was not paid, files could not be moved in the Environment Ministry. I have never experienced it myself as I never needed it but we are shocked on this. What kind of systems have they developed," he said.
Natarajan denied allegations levelled against her by Modi, saying the BJP leader was trying to target her as she has been very vocal against him in the past and had blocked two of his
projects. "There are major green violations in Gujarat. He was destroying the environment. I was opposed to his destruction of environment," Natarajan said. — PTI
|
|||||
CRPF man shoots self
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
As Kumar Vishwas of the Aam Aadmi Party today stormed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha segment Amethi ahead of the next general elections, party strategists back home mocked the development as the fledgling party’s feeble attempt to gain instant popularity. They also predicted Rahul’s third term victory from the
bastion.
As the year-long commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda formally came to a close today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said true religion cannot be the basis of hatred and
division.
Mumbai, January 12
The Narcotics Control Bureau
(NCB) has arrested a top executive of a business conglomerate and his two aides for allegedly possessing
contraband. The NCB arrested Anant Vardhan Pathak, a top executive of the Yash Birla Group, his peon and security officer last night from a five-star
hotel.
All three were produced before a local court which remanded them in NCB custody till January
16.
Accusing Congress of playing vote-bank politics, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today attacked Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde over his proposal to state governments to review terror cases against members of the minority
community.
* After January 17 session, the Congress vice-president will hold a two-day meet to reiterate the party’s position on policy
issues
