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protest against toll plazas
OBC list: SC rejects plea against Jats
ACB files FIR, names Moily, Ambani, Deora
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Now, AAP targets Modi on gas pricing
14-minute speech, courtesy Telangana
Tariff authority to suggest fares
T-Bill on mind, Cong
defers poll panel
US plays down Powell-Modi meet
HC slaps fine on ND Tiwari
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Raj Thackeray detained, freed
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 12 Early this morning, hundreds of MNS activists gathered at several points on the outskirts of Mumbai in a bid to prevent collection of toll. The police said the activists were halting traffic at different points when it was announced that Raj Thackeray would himself lead the protest at the Navi Mumbai toll post. At 9.30 am, Thackeray and his supporters left his residence at Shivaji Park when orders were issued to intercept his convoy. Sources said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was personally monitoring the protests, ordered Thackeray and his supporters to be taken into custody well before they reached the Vashi toll station where hundreds of MNS activists were to assemble. Thackeray's convoy was intercepted at Chembur where MNS activists and senior police officials had a verbal altercation for several minutes, sources said. Shortly afterwards, Thackeray and around 100 of his supporters were taken into preventive custody by the police and lodged at the RCF Colony police station in Chembur. After news of Thackeray's detention spread, MNS activists descended on the streets in different parts of the state. The police said the party's cadres burnt tyres and attacked vehicles in Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan and Nashik where the MNS has a strong presence. Traffic at major intersections outside Mumbai were completely disrupted as MNS activists vented their anger on unsuspecting passers-by.
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OBC list: SC rejects plea against Jats
New Delhi, February 12 A Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam rejected the petition by OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti, observing that the SC could not prevent the National Commission for Backward Caste (NCBC) from discharging its duty. The Samiti contended that the Centre had sought a review of the NCBC’s rulings in 1997 and 2010 against including Jats in the OBC list. On November 28, 1997, the commission had rejected the plea in respect of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the basis of a detailed survey, empirical studies and personal hearings which had shown that the Jat community was not a backward caste. The commission had come out with similar findings in Delhi in 2010. The petitioner also noted that the Haryana government had set up the second backward classes’ commission in October 1993 under the chairmanship of Desraj Kamboj and subsequently decided to include only Ahir/Yadav, Meo, Saini, Gujjar and Lodha communities in the state list of OBC, not the
Jats.
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ACB files FIR, names Moily, Ambani, Deora
New Delhi, February 12 The FIR was registered after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday that the agency had been told to probe their alleged collusion over hike in prices of natural gas from KG basin. Arvind Kejriwal today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to hold back the decision of increasing gas price till the investigation in the matter was over. Besides, the ministries should be asked to cooperate with the investigative team, he demanded. The ACB lodged a criminal case under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the government officials, all four names have been mentioned in the FIR. Kejriwal had yesterday alleged active collusion between the Reliance Infra Limited
(RIL) and some ministers of the Central government after receiving a complaint filed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR
Subramaniam, former Navy chief Admiral RH Tahiliani, former Union Secretary EAS Sarma and noted Supreme Court lawyer Kamini
Jaiswal. In the letter, Kejriwal requested the Prime Minister to cancel the gas blocks allocated to the RIL for creating artificial scarcity of gas in the country leading to hike in its prices. “The gas lobby has bribed both the Congress and the opposition parties,” said
Kejriwal. He alleged that if Reliance Industries was allowed to hike the prices from April 1, it will enjoy a bonanza of Rs 54,000 crore. AAP to table Jan Lokpal Bill today
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Now, AAP targets Modi on gas pricing New Delhi, February 12 AAP’s political affairs committee met this evening here to discuss on some of the crucial parliamentary seats. Attacking the Gujarat Government, AAP national executive member Sanjay Singh said, “The BJP should clarify its stand on the natural gas pricing. But it will never speak about it, as it has done on many instances. For example, Purushottam Solanki was found guilty in Rs 400 cr scam by the Gujarat High Court, but the govt shields him.” “Even the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had last year found irregularities to the tune of Rs26,672 crore in the Modi government in the last nine years. Modi has sold entire Gujarat to Adani and Ambanis. Tata Nano too has been given a soft loan for 20 years," Singh said. Singh said the party has received nearly 12,000 nominations for 425 Lok Sabha seats. The first list of 25 seats is expected to be declared tomorrow, including Ludhiana where 1984 anti-Sikh massacre crusader HS Phoolka is likely to contest, Amethi for which Kumar Vishwas's name is near final. For Haryana, a total of 70 aspirants had applied and interviews were held today here.
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14-minute speech, courtesy Telangana
New Delhi, February 12 It was his maiden budget, but the turmoil over the division of Andhra Pradesh forced the Railway Minister to end his speech abruptly. At times, his voice was drowned in the high-pitch “we want justice” sloganeering from Andhra Pradesh members. This is perhaps the first time that the Railway Minister was forced to lay on the table his budget speech which was taken as read. With tempers running high over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, a clash was averted between a supporter and opponent of Telangana due alertness of some leaders. Alertness of JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress and Jagadambika Pal of the Congress helped avert an ugly situation as M Jagannath (Congress) and N Sivaprasad (TDP) moved aggressively towards each other. As soon as the House resumed at noon, nearly 30 members trooped
into the well and the numbers swelled as the interim budget presentation progressed.
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Tariff authority to suggest fares
New Delhi, February 12 The minister also announced the starting of more premium AC special trains to more destinations after its success on the Delhi and Mumbai routes in the Interim Budget speech 2014-15. The RTA, which has been on the anvil for some time, will be responsible for revising the rail fares - a contentious issue with successive railway ministers choosing populism over the health of the public carrier. Describing the setting up of the RTA as “a path-breaking decision”, Kharge said: “Determination of rates will no longer be an exercise behind veils where the Railways and users could only peep covertly at what was happening on the other side.” The authority will not only consider requirements of the Railways but also engage with stakeholders to usher in a new pricing regime through a transparent process. Taking into account the success of the premium AC special train between Delhi and Mumbai, the Railways have decided to run 17 more such trains on busy routes. It also announced exploring the possibility of running semi high-speed trains at speed of 160 to 200 kmph to Chandigarh and Agra from Delhi. Kharge said a joint feasibility study for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed corridor, which started in December 2013, would be completed in 18 months.
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T-Bill on mind, Cong
defers poll panel New Delhi, February 12 Party sources the meeting was delayed on account of a possibility of the Government introducing the Telangana Bill in Lok Sabha tomorrow in which case all top leaders and MPs would have to be present in the House including Sonia. The Congress strength in LS has to be full tomorrow in case the Bill is brought for introduction and someone presses for a vote. The poll panel meeting has been rescheduled for February 17. In the first meeting the panel is expected to declare candidates for non Congress seats in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and northeast states. PM meets BJP leaders The BJP today assured support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the crucial Telangana Bill but made it clear that the government should address concerns of the people of Seemandhra as well. Seeking to bring about a consensus on the issue which has seen repeated disruptions in Parliament, the PM held discussion with top BJP leaders over lunch at his residence. Top sources said BJP leaders told the PM that it was not the BJP but Congress MPs who were creating disruptions in the House.
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Navy expands scope of Exercise Milan
Away in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Indian Navy and 16 other nations were involved in the six-day “Exercise Milan” that concluded on February 9. The scope of the exercise and its participants is slowly increasing. For the first time since its inception in 1995, the Navy had invited countries on the western rim of the Indian Ocean and also island nations in the region. This time two African nations -- Kenya and Tanzania -- were invited, besides the island nations of Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles, all of which are crucial to India’s reach in the Indian Ocean. It was also the first time that Philippines and Cambodia -- both important for India in the contentious South China Sea -- were invited. Indigenous artillery guns
As the much needed modernisation of the Regiment of Artillery continues to hang fire, an Indian conglomerate has developed two artillery guns that could offer an alternate to imports that often get bogged down in red-tapism and unsavory controversies. Pune-based Kalyani Group has come up with a 155 mm gun, Christen Bharat-52 and a 105 mm gun called Garuda 105 that were show-cased at the recently concluded DefExpo-1024 at New Delhi. The guns are however yet to be tested by the Army, for which the company has approached the Ministry of Defence. The Indian army has not procured a new artillery gun since 410 Bofors 155mm howitzers were procured from Sweden in the 1980s. Many of there guns, which performed commendably during the Kargil conflict, are said to be unserviceable due to want of spares.
Remembering a war hero
The martyrdom day of Naik Jadu Nath Singh, one of the earliest recipients of the Param Vir Chakra, falls this month. Enrolled in 1 Rajput (now 4 Guards) in November 1941, Nath had died fighting Pakistani infiltrators at Naoshera in Jammu and Kashmir on February 6, 1948. He was in command of a forward section post which bore the full brunt of the enemy attack. Nine men had stood against overwhelming odds against successive enemy attacks. With complete disregard for his personal safety, he encouraged his men to fight, warding off two attacks. The enemy launched a massive third attack to capture the post and a wounded Jadu Nath charged out of the bunker with a Sten gun taking the enemy by surprise. In the battle, two bullets hit him in the head and chest. (Vijay Mohan and
Ajay Banerjee)
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US plays down Powell-Modi meet
Washington, February 12 “When individuals apply for a visa, their applications are reviewed in accordance with the US law and policy. This is not a reflection of any change...This is simply a meeting happening on the ground in India. It’s not a reflection of anything else than outreach to a broad range of officials,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters. Modi’s visa was revoked in 2005 under the provisions of a domestic law on the issue of “severe violations of religious freedom”. In a sudden u-turn, the US yesterday signalled the end of its boycott of Modi when it sought and got permission for a meeting between Powell and Modi in Ahmedabad tomorrow. The State Department sought to play down Powell’s meeting with Modi, saying it is part of increased engagement with Indian leaders and indicated that President Barack Obama may not have been involved in the decision to end the BJP leader’s boycott. Washington also made it clear that it was not taking any position on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Justifying the meeting, Psaki said all relevant people required to take a decision were involved in the process. However, Psaki did not confirm if President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry were involved in it. — PTI
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HC slaps fine on ND Tiwari
New Delhi, February 12 A Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and RV Easwar also rejected Tiwari’s plea for shifting his cross-examination in the case from the HC to either the Nehru Yuva Kendra, UP Sadan or Uttarakhand Bhavan in the city.
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Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray who threatened to stop road traffic to protest collection of toll across the state piped down after the Mumbai police detained him for a while.
