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With Bihar, UP in mind, BJP keeps MNS at bay, for now
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, BJP leader
Yeddy, Chandan Mitra in BJP’s 2nd list
Cong, RJD humiliated us, alleges Paswan’s son
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Lalu’s aide quits party posts
AAP’s Yogendra Yadav ink-attacked
Yogendra Yadav
Ranbaxy recalls over 64,000
bottles of generic Lipitor in US
Health scheme standoff: Hospitals discontinue cashless services
BSF artillery upgrade to
bring it in line with Army
No change in position on Modi visa: US
Narendra Modi
SP man calls Mulayam ‘budha’, expelled
SIT chargesheet names 10 Muslim leaders
With no meetings in 10 months to resolve issues,
Rs 2 cr stuck
Indigo plane catches fire at Kathmandu
SMS helpline for Mumbai women launched
Mamata, Buddha kick off campaigns
Telangana Cong leaders against electoral tie-up
1 killed, 2 hurt in N-sub mishap
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With Bihar, UP in mind, BJP keeps MNS at bay, for now
New Delhi, March 8 In response to speculations that Raj may find way into the NDA fold despite Shiv Sena's and cousin Udhav's objections, senior BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the BJP was not considering alliance with the MNS for the coming General Elections. "Whosoever is talking about it (alliance with the MNS) has no mandate," Rudy said. Recently, former BJP president Nitin Gadkari meeting Raj Thackeray had sparked off speculations of a BJP-MNS tie-up and earned ire of alliance partner Shiv Sena from which Raj had split in 2006 to form the MNS. Sources say apart from objections by Shiv Sena and RPI (Athawale), BJP's allies in Maharashtra, the saffron party is also worried about MNS' distinct anti-north Indian image that may adversely affect its prospects in states such as UP and Bihar that send 120 MPs to the Lok Sabha. RPI leader Ramdas Athawale, who is vehemently opposed to the prospect of Raj joining the NDA, reportedly threatened to quit the coalition. The Dalit leader from Maharashtra told The Tribune that there was no room and "no need" for another party in the five-member alliance in Maharashtra. The alliance comprising Shiv Sena-BJP and RPI also has as partners Raju Shetty's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Mahadev Jankar's Rashtriya Samaj Party's. However, amid reports that the BJP's efforts to convince Raj against contesting the Lok Sabha elections to prevent a split in anti-Congress votes may not work, sources say there could be tacit electoral understanding between the BJP and the MNS. Raj may field weak candidates in lieu of saffron support in the state elections.
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Yeddy, Chandan Mitra in BJP’s 2nd list
New Delhi, March 8 The second list of candidates covers six states of Karnataka, Odisha, Tripura, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal. Among other prominent leaders fielded by the party include another former Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda from Bangalore North, party general secretary Ananth Kumar from Bangalore South and journalist-turned-politician Chandan Mitra from Hoogly in West Bengal. Yeddyurappa will contest from Shimoga in Karnataka, Ananth Kumar told a press conference while announcing the decision taken at the meeting of the party's Central Election Committee headed by BJP Chief Rajnath Singh and attended by Narendra Modi, L K Advani and other top leaders. Yeddyurappa (71) had to resign as Chief Minister of the state on Agust 1, 2011, after a corruption case was lodged against him by the Lokayukta. He quit the party in November 2012 and formed his own outfit Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) which contested the last Assembly polls against the BJP and played a key role in its defeat. The veteran Lingayat leader from the state, who wields influence on a considerable vote bank in the state, had led BJP to victory in the 2008 assembly elections thus forming the first BJP government in south India. The BJP had released a list of 54 candidates in its first list on February 27. The next list would be released on March 13. — PTI
Six states covered
*n The second list of candidates covers six states of Karnataka, Odisha, Tripura, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal *
Among other prominent leaders fielded by the party include another former Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda from Bangalore North, party general secretary Ananth Kumar from Bangalore South and journalist-turned-politician Chandan Mitra from Hoogly in West Bengal.
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Cong, RJD humiliated us, alleges Paswan’s son
New Delhi, March 8 The one-film-old actor, who was today chosen to contest from the Jamui (reserved) constituency in Bihar, talked to The Tribune about how the "humiliation" suffered at "the hands of the Congress and Lalu Prasad's RJD" led the LJP chief to decide in the favour of a tie-up with the BJP. Chirag, who agrees that the LJP chief had reservations about the alliance because of the 2002 Gujarat riots, said he convinced his father to look beyond and move ahead in the interest of the party and the nation. "The way we were being humiliated by the Congress and the RJD, there was a unanimous agreement on joining hands with the BJP. The RJD and the Congress treated us like a football. Whenever we approached the Congress, they asked us to get in touch with the RJD and whenever we approached the RJD it was vice-versa. We felt completely sidelined," Chirag said. Chirag said he had been following the BJP's political chart and Narendra Modi for the past two years and their pitch "in favour of the youth" convinced him to agree on the tie-up.
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Lalu’s aide quits party posts
New Delhi, March 8 Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti has been fielded from the seat. “I have resigned from all party posts with a heavy heart,” Yadav said while emphasising that he was still in the party. “All options are open,” he said when asked if he would join the BJP. Yadav slammed Lalu’s decision to give ticket to his daughter, accusing the party leaders of being more interested in serving “family justice” than social justice for which it was formed. He also dismissed Misa’s visit to his residence yesterday in New Delhi as an “emotional atyachar (blackmail) or a political stunt”. That trip was viewed as an attempt by the RJD to mollify a furious Yadav. — TNS
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AAP’s Yogendra Yadav ink-attacked
New Delhi, March 8 The man, identified as Sagar Bhandari, wearing the trademark AAP cap and a badge, came from behind and smeared ink on Yadav's face when the AAP leader was talking to the media at the event organised at Jantar Mantar in Central Delhi to mark Women's Day. Furious AAP supporters removed Bhandari from the stage and started beating him up before the Delhi Police intervened and detained him for questioning. He was taken to Parliament Street police station for further investigation. Bhandari claimed to be a disgruntled AAP worker. Yadav refused to lodge a complaint and visited the police station to ask police not to register an FIR against
Bhandari.
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Ranbaxy recalls over 64,000
bottles of generic Lipitor in US
New Delhi, March 8 The Indian firm, which is reeling under regulatory action from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), recalled the drug after a complaint by a pharmacist who discovered a 20 mg tablet inside a sealed bottle of Atorvastatin 10 mg tablets. "Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals is conducting a voluntary recall in the US limited to two lots of Atorvastatin calcium tablets, 10 mg manufactured in India which expire in May 2014," it said in a statement. The company, majority owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, said it recalled the tablets "because of a remote possibility of the presence of a 20 mg Atorvastatin calcium tablet in a 10 mg bottle." "This is the basis of the voluntary recall," it added. To date, Ranbaxy has not received any product complaints related to these batches, the company said. "Other lot numbers, package sizes and strengths are not affected by this recall. The recall is being conducted at the retail level," it added. Ranbaxy is withdrawing the lots out of abundant caution, keeping the safety of patients in mind and with full knowledge of the USFDA, it said. In January, the USFDA prohibited Ranbaxy from producing and distributing drugs for the American market from its Toansa facility in Punjab. The Toansa plant catered to over 70 per cent of Ranbaxy's requirement for raw material used in medicine formulations. Toansa was the fourth Ranbaxy plant banned by the USFDA. In September, the USFDA imposed an import alert on Ranbaxy's Mohali plant in Punjab for violating good manufacturing norms. Ranbaxy's key facilities at Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh have been under a US import alert since 2008. — PTI
Reeling under USFDA action
*n The Indian firm, which is reeling under regulatory action from the US Food and Drug Administration, recalled the drug after a complaint by a pharmacist who discovered a 20 mg tablet inside a sealed bottle of Atorvastatin 10 mg tablets *
Ranbaxy is withdrawing the lots out of abundant caution, keeping the safety of patients in mind and with full knowledge of the USFDA, the company said in a statement *
In January, the USFDA prohibited Ranbaxy from producing and distributing drugs for the American market from its Toansa facility in Punjab.
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Health scheme standoff: Hospitals discontinue cashless services
New Delhi, March 8 The stand-off between the Union Health Ministry and private hospitals is likely to affect over a crore of CGHS beneficiaries including 30 lakh pensioners, 50 lakh serving government employees and their dependents. A statement from the government last night promising that dues under the CGHS will be cleared in a week failed to convince private hospitals body-- Association of Healthcare Providers (India)--who today said they would not entertain cashless facility under the health scheme. The hospitals are demanding immediate clearance of pending dues of over Rs 200 crore. "Large and long pending payments far exceeded the agreed upon time frame...It takes weeks and months for hospitals to receive the money," the hospital association said in a statement. It has become untenable for hospitals to continue giving cashless services as they are not getting paid for the services for months, it said. "CGHS-owned dashboard showed Rs 202 crore as outstanding to hospitals as on January 31, 2014," it said. Very little amount out of this has actually been received till now, whereas more bills have been raised and submitted by the hospitals, the statement said. Hospitals are also being threatened that they should continue with cashless services, it said. "CGHS is very conveniently avoiding the fact that Memorandum of Understanding (signed between them and the government) clearly provides with obligation on part of CGHS to pay the dues within 10 days," the association said. — PTI
Pending dues
* The hospitals are demanding immediate clearance of pending dues of over Rs 200 crore *
A statement from the government promising clearance of dues under the CGHS has failed to convince private hospitals body — Association of Healthcare Providers
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BSF artillery upgrade to
bring it in line with Army
New Delhi, March 8 BSF ex-Director General Subhash Joshi, who retired on February 28, said the government had sanctioned a modernisation budget of Rs 4,500 crore for the force for the next five years. The modernisation plan includes upgrading the BSF’s artillery wing. “The modernisation plan has already commenced and 2013-14 was its first year. Unfortunately, there is not much money available. We plan to start the procurement process in the next financial year, subject to availability of budget,” Joshi said. The artillery -- known as ‘The God of War’ -- is used only during wartime in India. During war, the BSF is placed under the operational control of the Army. To ensure operational consonance between the two forces, the BSF has planned to upgrade its artillery to the computer-based system that the Army will have, Joshi said. “The process of upgrading our artillery has begun and we hope to complete it in a year or two. We will upgrade our existing system to computer-based. This will give us more accuracy in our firepower,” he said. Sources in the security establishment said the new system was called Sigma 30 Inertial Navigation System (INS) and was produced by Sagem, a French defence and security company. The Sigma 30 INS has an autonomous laying dial sight, which means it is a computer system that works out the artillery gun’s elevation, its range from the target and the angle needed for a shell to hit the target. Using the range, the system will also calculate shell trajectory. It also provides ‘Shoot and Scoot’ capability, which is an artillery tactic of firing at a target and then quickly moving away from the location where the shells were fired to avoid enemy fire. It boasts of multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI) capability, which is the process of firing several shells at a target with the aim of ensuring they land at exactly the same time. The MRSI prevents people from running to hide after the first shell is fired. The systems in the Sigma 30 family are being used by more than 25 artillery programmes worldwide. They have been coupled with the Caesar guns that are being used by the French army in Afghanistan and for Operation Serval against Islamic militants in Mali. The Sigma 30 systems are also used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries. Sources explained that the new 155mm artillery gun ‘Dhanush’, which is being manufactured by Ordnance Factory Board for the Army, will have the Sigma 30 INS system. “It is the latest system in the world,” said a source. On the other hand, the BSF has 105mm artillery guns deployed along the India-Pakistan border, which is one of the primary focus areas for the force, especially after the 254 ceasefire violations along the border last year.
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No change in position on Modi visa: US
Washington, March 8 "Obviously, the elections haven't taken place at this point, but our position hasn't changed on this, which is that Modi is welcome to apply for a visa, and obviously that would be considered through the normal process," state department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters. She was responding to questions on an interview given by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal in which she said that the US has welcomed every leader of this vibrant democracy and that a democratically- elected leader of India would be a welcome partner. "We don't speculate on visas, of course, and our position hasn't changed," Psaki said. — PTI
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SP man calls Mulayam ‘budha’, expelled
Agra, March 8 Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said Maharaj Singh Dhangar would be the new candidate for the Agra City seat. Devendra had visited a traffic police office when he referred to Yadav with disrespect. - IANS
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SIT chargesheet names 10 Muslim leaders
Muzaffarnagar, March 8 The chargesheet was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Kumar by the Special Investigation team yesterday in connection with the alleged hate speeches made in Khalapar locality of the city on August 30, 2013, by the accused in defiance of prohibitory orders clamped following tension in Kawal village in the district, sources said. Apart from Rana, the others chargesheeted are BSP MLA from Charthawal Noor Saleem Rana, party MLA from Miranpur Maulana Jamil, Congress leader Saeed-uz-Zama, his son Salman Saeed, city board member Asad Zama Ansari, ex-member of the city board Naushad Qureshi, trader Ahsan Qureshi, Sultan Mushir and Naushad, they said. They have been charged with violating prohibitory orders and inciting communal tension by making inflammatory speeches. The development came even as the UP Government had in January moved to withdraw cases related to riots against the Muslim leaders with the Law Ministry seeking report from district authorities, which were understood to be not in favour of such a step. Rana had left the Samajwadi Party in 2007 to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal and then switched to the BSP in 2009. — PTI
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With no meetings in 10 months to resolve issues,
Rs 2 cr stuck
Jammu, March 8 As a result, trade-related disputes between 15 Indian traders and as many from PoK have cropped up, bringing them to near bankruptcy. At least 165 Indian traders are registered with Chakan-da-Bagh Trade Centre. “As no meeting has taken place in nearly one year to sort out trade-related issues, 15 of our traders are almost bankrupt. A total of Rs 2 crore of 15 Indian traders is blocked with their counterparts in PoK. “As many traders from other side are also suffering since May last year when the last meeting was held on the PoK side of the Zero Line,” said Pawan Anand, president of the Chamber of LoC Trade, Jammu and Kashmir. He blamed the custodian of Chakan-da-Bagh Trade Facilitation Centre, trade facilitation officer and Poonch Deputy Commissioner for not initiating any measures to resume the stalled meetings. The trans-LoC trade takes place on four days every week from Tuesday to Friday on a barter system. Initially, New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed upon quarterly meetings between PoK and Indian traders at the Zero Line but following representations by Indian traders to the Union Home Ministry, these were increased to a monthly basis for smooth trade between the two sides. Anand said that after the last meeting in May last year, they sent representatives to the custodian of Chakan-da-Bagh Trade Facilitation Centre, trade facilitation officer and Deputy Commissioner Poonch, Sajjad Ahmed Khan, but to no avail. “It’s been 10 months now. Not a single meeting has taken place since May last year. One can gauge the state of affairs,” said Anand. Anand has now sought the intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and YV Sharma, president of Jammu Kashmir Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in the matter.
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Indigo plane catches fire at Kathmandu
Kathmandu, March 8 All the passengers and crew were quickly evacuated from emergency doors soon after the ground engineers observed fire from the right brake assembly of the Airbus 320, officials and the airline said. The fire was immediately brought under control. The aircraft was two-years-old with no history of technical fault. The low-cost no-frills airline said its flight 6E031 with 175 passengers, one infant and six crew members made a normal landing this afternoon at Tribhuwan International airport. Ground engineers observed smoke and fire from the right brake assembly and advised evacuation of all passengers and crew, it said. The airline said 171 passengers were evacuated by the flight chutes and the remaining passengers and crew left the plane from the forward step ladder during the evacuation process that lasted 81 seconds. According to a preliminary inquiry, the sparks occurred due to heavy braking during landing, which could have led to a hydraulic leak, a source said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will be conducting a full fledged inquiry into the matter. The airline, however, ruled out the 'hard landing," as the cause of fire. "The aircraft has been grounded and investigation is being carried out. Our engineers and material is reaching Kathmandu this evening. Hard landing is ruled out," an IndiGo spokesperson told PTI in Mumbai. The aircraft is expected to be ready for operations tomorrow, the spokesperson added. PTI
Lucknow-Dubai AI flight makes emergency landing
Mumbai: A Dubai-bound Air India Express flight with 189 passengers onboard on Saturday made an emergency landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport after it was diverted here due to technical issue.
A spokesperson of the airline said all the passengers were safe.
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SMS helpline for Mumbai women launched
Mumbai, March 8 Under 'Travel Safe When Alone' initiative, any women before taking an auto rickshaw or taxi could message registration number of the vehicle to a dedicated helpline number 9969777888. "The police will keep track of the vehicles that the woman is taking and would get her location through GPS," Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said while launching the service on the occasion of the International Women's Day. — PTI
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Mamata, Buddha kick off campaigns
Kolkata, March 8 Mamata led a women’s procession organised by the Trinamool Mahila Samiti to mark International Women’s Day. The procession started from College Square and ended at Esplanade, where she urged people to elect TMC candidates on all 42 seats. She said this would help set up an alternative non-Congress and non-BJP federal front government at the Centre. Buddhadeb called up people to defeat the TMC and the Congress in the state to help the CPM and other Left parties persuade regional non-Congress and non-BJP parties in the country to form an alternative Third Front government. He said it was possible since the collective vote share of the Congress and the BJP was a little less than 50 per cent. If the remaining votes could be united in favour of the regional parties, a stable government could be formed. Mamata said she would soon declare the names of TMC candidates in other states. She would address her first poll meeting with Hazare in Delhi on March 12 .
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Telangana Cong leaders against electoral tie-up
Hyderabad, March 8 "We are not craving for merger or alliance with any party. Only the Congress has the guts and capacity to fight the elections on its own," the leaders said in an apparent reference to K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)'s move against merger. The leaders, however, left the final decision to the discretion of the Congress high command, saying the leadership could take a call based on overall needs. Telangana Congress leaders met at the residence of former minister K Jana Reddy this afternoon and discussed the political scene in the aftermath of the TRS' snub to Congress on merger. They wanted the high command to "guide" them on the issue in tune with its thinking at national level. — PTI
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1 killed, 2 hurt in N-sub mishap Visakhapatnam, March 8 The incident took place when the pressure of the hydraulic tank of the Arihant-class submarine was being tested and the tank's lid fell on the workers at Building-5 of the shipbuilding centre, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Avinash Chander told PTI. He said one worker "unfortunately lost his life" in the incident. Police sources said Amar was killed on the spot while Amzad Khan and Vishnu were seriously injured and admitted to a private hospital in the city. The under-construction nuclear submarine was a follow-up of the Navy's warship INS Arihant. Chander said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident and there was no setback to the programme for development of submarines. — PTI
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Malkaniri (Odisha) A woman Maoist, with a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head, surrendered to the police in Odisha's Malkangiri district on Saturday. Deve Padiami alias Sandhya was the ‘deputy commander’ of the newly formed Gupteswar Dalam of the Maoists and had deserted camp two days ago. — PTI Bangalore Nightlife is no longer the same in the country's IT hub. The extended deadline from 11 pm till 1 am for bars and restaurants on Fridays and Saturdays came into effect on Friday night. Confusion among bar owners and lack of awareness among the public, however, led to a mixed response. — PTI Chennai Aiming to encourage women who aspire to become film directors in the male-dominated field, a six-day women's International Film Festival will be held from May 20. "The Chennai Women's International Film Festival will promote films made by women," Ravichandran, the head of Eventaa SouthIndia Productions, said. - PTI Thane A constable attached to the Central Jail here was arrested for allegedly supplying ganja to inmates, the police said on Saturday. “Mayur Chindarkar (27) was apprehended on Friday morning at the entrance of the jail and ganja weighing 252 gm was found hidden in his socks," said Assistant Police Inspector AR Mulla. — PTI Aligarh Sheth Zulfikar Yousuf, a research scholar of Aligarh Muslim University and a former resident of a riot relief camp in Gujarat, has been granted the prestigious Presidential Scholarship of $1.2 lakh by Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. — PTI
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Pradesh — the two states from where the BJP has maximum hopes of emerging victorious — the saffron party has decided to keep a safe distance from Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), for now.
Except for his attire, Chirag Paswan, son of Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, hardly fits the bill of a hardcore politician who successfully drove the BJP-LJP alliance from the latter's side.
with ink during a public event here by a 28-year-old man, who was later roughed up by AAP supporters.
The man, identified as Sagar Bhandari, wearing the trademark AAP cap and a badge, came from behind and smeared ink on Yadav's face when the AAP leader was talking to the media at the event organised at Jantar Mantar in Central Delhi to mark Women's Day.
Drug major Ranbaxy Laboratories has recalled over 64,000 bottles of Atorvastatin calcium tablets, a generic version of cholesterol-lowering drug
Lipitor, after a complaint of wrong dosage. The Indian firm, which is reeling under regulatory action from the US Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA), recalled the drug after a complaint by a pharmacist who discovered a 20 mg tablet inside a sealed bottle of Atorvastatin 10 mg tablets.
There is no change in the American position on visa to Gujarat CM Narendra
Modi, an Obama administration official has said. "Obviously, the elections haven't taken place at this point, but our position hasn't changed on this, which is that Modi is welcome to apply for a visa, and obviously that would be considered through the normal process," state department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee kicked off poll campaigns for their respective parties today.
Mamata led a women’s procession organised by the Trinamool Mahila Samiti to mark International Women’s Day. The procession started from College Square and ended at Esplanade, where she urged people to elect TMC candidates on all 42 seats.
