|
|
|
|
|
Kejri targets media again
Shazia, Soni Sori on AAP’s sixth list
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TRS dumps Cong, to go it alone in Andhra polls
Rahul predicts victory, rubbishes poll surveys
Varun not to canvass against Rahul
JD(U) rolls out first list
PM refused to meet media, says Chacko
Gujarat plant: Maruti to seek approval of minority shareholders
Pathribal case never reached GCM stage
Khurshid denies attacking SC, EC
India slams re-indictment of Devyani Khobragade
Hunt for new Navy Chief enters Week 3
Militant leader to contest polls in Assam
HC tells Kaziranga chief to file report
|
|
Kejri targets media again
Bangalore, March 15 “Has media got guts to expose Modi? They are only repeating the lies he tells during his campaign speeches about the so-called development in Gujarat,” Kejriwal told mediapersons here during the AAP road show underway in the city. Alleging that Modi’s development claims were hollow, he said: “Which media house will dare show Modi’s reality? Nearly 800 farmers committed suicide and around 16,000 small-scale industries shut down in Gujarat under Modi’s regime. But these facts have neither been shown nor reported.” Recalling his recent visit to Gujarat, Kejriwal said corruption was no less in that state. “Corruption reeks across Gujarat even 11 years after Modi became the Chief Minister. Why don’t the media go there and verify what I am saying? Is it not their job or duty to inform people about the harsh reality of that state? Will media have the courage to tell the truth about Modi’s Gujarat at least now before the General Election?” Kejriwal said. “It is not just the BJP which is desperate to grab power, but some media houses that are telecasting and writing about opinion polls based on false surveys for vested interests,” Kejriwal added. Kejriwal kicked-off his road show in Bangalore today. The former Delhi Chief Minister hit the streets of the IT hub at 9.30 am and wrapped up his day’s programme by 7.30 pm, touching 10 locations en route.
|
|
Shazia, Soni Sori on AAP’s sixth list
New Delhi, March 15 Ilmi will contest from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, while Sori has been fielded from Bastar in Chhattisgarh. Sori and her nephew Lingaram Kodopi, a budding journalist who had ambitions of empowering the poor tribals, were accused of receiving money from a corporate house to transfer to Maoists, a charge they denied. Kodopi was arrested in September 2011 and Sori a month later. Bhattacharya, the second woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and the first woman to become a state police chief (director general of police), will contest from Haridwar. — IANS
|
|||||
|
TRS dumps Cong, to go it alone in Andhra polls
Hyderabad, March 15 The assertion was made by TRS founder-president and MP K Chandrasekhar Rao while addressing a meeting of his party workers here. "People in Telangana are against our merger or alliance with Congress. Hence, we are going by their wish," KCR, as he is popularly known in political circles, said. Adding to the discomfiture of the Congress, KCR’s announcement came even as AICC general secretary in-charge of AP affairs Digvijay Singh is in the city to hold negotiations with the TRS leadership on forging a tie-up. A string of opinion polls in the recent past, conducted by various agencies, suggested a virtual wave in favour of the TRS in the Telangana region, while the Congress has to be content with a poor second position despite its government at the Centre granting statehood for the region. The region accounts for 17 Lok Sabha seats, out of a total of 42 in Andhra Pradesh, and 119 Assembly seats in the 294-member House. Being in the forefront of the statehood movement since its inception in 2001, the TRS is now seeking to appropriate entire credit to itself for realizing the long-cherished dream of the region. Earlier, the TRS supremo had promised to merge his party with Congress if the Telangana bill was passed in the Parliament. But soon after the passage of the Bill, he made a volte face, saying that an “overwhelming majority” of the party cadre was not in favour of merger. “We have unanimously decided to continue the TRS as separate political entity and play a major role in the reconstruction of Telangana state,” KCR said. He has been assuring the Congress leadership that he was open to firming a poll pact. The TRS had last week set up a five-member committee, headed by Rajya Sabha member K.Keshav Rao, to hold "consultations" with Congress on electoral alliance. With today's categorical announcement, the TRS leadership has virtually slammed the door on the Congress in the midst of media reports that the regional party has already opened communication channel with BJP for a possible alliance. “Let us see from tomorrow if TRS MLAs join the Congress or the reverse will happen,” KCR told a gathering of patry workers.
|
|||||
|
Rahul predicts victory, rubbishes poll surveys
New Delhi, March 15 In a Google hangout interaction with party workers across India today, Rahul slammed various opinion polls which were predicting doom for the Congress, saying these polls were nothing but the Opposition's attempt to demoralise workers. "We are getting 200 plus seats," Rahul said to queries regarding how the party would fashion its future in case it does really fall below the 100 mark. The Congress vice-president said the pollsters had dismissed the Congress in 2004 and again in 2009 but the party won on both the occasions doubling its tally in the last General Election. Rahul's comment coincided with those of party's national spokesperson PC Chacko who sought to indirectly blame the PM for what he indicated as an imminent electoral loss of the Congress. Rahul engaged his colleagues on the issue of demoralisation, telling them that they should not get trapped in the "Opposition's ploy to undermine them through poll surveys". Rahul described these surveys as "jokes". When a Congress worker asked him how the party would deal with Narendra Modi if he comes to power, Rahul said: "This is a non question because we are winning." Rahul also slammed the BJP, saying there was internal strife in the party over seats and candidates who were being shortlisted only by one man.
|
|||||
|
Varun not to canvass against Rahul
Lucknow, March 15 Varun, who has been fielding by the BJP from Sultanpur, adjacent to cousin Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi constituency yesterday clarified that he had high regard for political traditions and had no intention of campaigning against his cousin. “I have a constructive and positive approach towards politics. I do not believe in crossing the limits of decent behaviour,” said Varun while rejecting the possibility of campaigning against Rahul. But he did not spare the Akhilesh Yadav government for not measuring up to expectations. “Barely 30 to 40 percent of available funds are being spent on development. Take for instance the roads of the state. They are impossible to move on”, he pointed out.
|
|||||
|
JD(U) rolls out first list
New Delhi, March 15 Sasaram is a reserved seat from where the BJP has fielded Sanjay Paswan. With Ramaiah, a former IAS officer who served the state in various capacities, joining the fray, the contest in Sasaram has become triangular. Bihar Speaker Udai Narayan Chowdhary has been fielded from the reserved seat of Jamui, where Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag Paswan is contesting. Sudhanshu Shekhar Bhaskar is the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate from here. While the LJP has an alliance with the BJP, the RJD is in alliance with the Congress in Bihar. — PTI
|
|||||
|
PM refused to meet media, says Chacko
Kochi, March 15 "All of us told him (PM) several times that he should meet the media at least once in two weeks, if not once a week. Despite several pleas, for some reason he did not do it. We even lost our patience on this," said Chacko while speaking to the media here Saturday. Chacko was the Joint Parliamentary Commission chairman on the 2G scam and represents the Thrissur constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha. "We (second UPA government) failed to reach out to the people on what we have done," Chacko said. Chacko, who faced opposition from his fellow party workers in Thrissur, swapped his seat with that of KP Dhanapalan, who was elected from the Chalakudy constituency - both constituencies are in Thrissur district. He also said the situation was not favourable and only time would tell if there would be a third UPA government. "Even if the Congress party at the national level is going to face problems, the party would do well in Kerala," Chacko added. — IANS
|
|||||
|
Gujarat plant: Maruti to seek approval of minority shareholders
New Delhi, March 15 The move came after some of the independent directors on the MSIL Board objected to the move citing possible flouting of the corporate governance laws. The minority shareholders, who have been raising the issue with MSIL ever since it announced its decision in late January, had also moved stock market regulator SEBI on the issue with the latter seeking an explanation from the carmaker about it. The decision to seek the approval of the minority shareholders was taken at a board meeting today. The meeting, which had ostensibly been convened to approve the company’s accounts, lasted four hours and was attended by parent SMC chairman Osamu Suzuki.
The objection
|
|||||
|
Pathribal case never reached GCM stage
Srinagar, March 15 These new details, hitherto unknown, have emerged in the 11-page reply filed by the Army in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar, on Friday. The CJM had directed the Army to hand over documents pertaining to the court martial proceedings to the family members of Zahoor Ahmad Dalala, one of the victims in the 2000 encounter case. The Army had on January 23, 2014, announced the closure of the Pathribal case and given a clean chit to five of its men accused of killing an equal number of civilians during a “staged encounter” in south Kashmir on March 25, 2000. It had cited lack of evidence for closing the proceedings in the case. In its report, however, to the CJM on January 20, 2014, the Army did not specify at what stage the proceedings were closed and charges dropped against the accused. In its fresh reply, the Army said: “GoC 16 Corps, the Commanding Officer of all the five accused, heard the charges against them and found that the evidence on record did not establish a prima facie case against any of the five accused. He referred the “summary of evidence” to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-in-C), Northern Command, under the Rule 24 (1) (b) of the Army Rules, 1954.
New revelations
|
|||||
|
Khurshid denies attacking SC, EC
New Delhi, March 15 Khurshid said he spoke for about 45 minutes to a largely academic audience and answered questions for another 15 minutes in his public lecture at SOAS in London on an important topic “Challenges before Indian Democracy”. “As for the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, I explicitly placed on record their ‘yeoman’ contribution to remarkable improvements in our electoral system and governance, particularly the integrity of the election process. — PTI
|
|||||
|
India slams re-indictment of Devyani Khobragade
New Delhi, March 15 “We are disappointed that the relevant office of the United States Department of Justice chose to obtain a second indictment against IFS officer Devyani Khobragade despite the fact that the first indictment and arrest warrant were dismissed earlier this week,” an External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said. Calling it an unnecessary step, the spokesperson reiterated the case had no merit as far as India was concerned and, therefore, the second indictment had no impact on Delhi’s stated position. “Now that Khobragade has returned to India, the court in the United States has no jurisdiction over her. The government will, therefore, no longer engage on this case in the United States legal system,” the spokesperson said. The second indictment came a day after a US court dismissed an earlier indictment that accused Khobragade of visa fraud and making false statements about the visa application of her maid, Sangeeta Richard. An arrest warrant was issued against Khobragade in the US on Saturday after her fresh indictment. “Any measures consequent to this decision in the US will unfortunately impact upon efforts on both sides to build the India-US strategic partnership to which both sides are committed,” New Delhi said. Thirtynine-year-old Khobragade was arrested in New York on December 12 last year, strip-searched and held with criminals that led to a row between New Delhi and Washington. Subsequently, India downgraded some of the privileges extended to a certain category of American diplomats serving here. After her release on a $2,50,000 bond, Khobragade was released, granted full diplomatic immunity and sent to India in January on transfer to the ministry here. Her two children and husband are still back in the US.
Case has no merit, says MEA
|
|||||
|
Hunt for new Navy Chief enters Week 3
New Delhi, March 15 Last Thursday, a buzz went around that an announcement was imminent with the name of the one of the five as having been the chosen one. All that happened was that the file pertaining to the appointment reached the desk of the Defence Minister and returned seeking more clarifications. As things stand today, Vice-Chief of Naval Staff Robin Dhowan is officiating as the Chief and is among the five Vice-Admirals whose papers are being processed before the minister takes the decision for approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet which includes the Prime Minister and the Minister for Personnel in this case. Sources said since the Model Code of Conduct is in operation, approval of the Election Commission has been obtained so that the government can finalise on a name from among Vice-Chief Admiral Dhowan, Western Naval Commander Shekhar Sinha, Eastern Naval Commander Anil Chopra, Southern Naval Commander Satish Soni and Strategic Forces Commander SPS Cheema, who is the junior most in the hierarchy. Usually the government begins the process some six months before the date of retirement of the incumbent Chief but Admiral Joshi’s resignation upset the line of succession.
|
|||||
|
Militant leader to contest polls in Assam
Guwahati, March 15 The ULFA militant leader said he had already left the ranks of the ULFA (pro-talks) and would contest from the Kokrajhar constituency comprising Bodoland Teritorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) areas to work for suppressed people of the area. He alleged that a larger section of people in the BTC was not allowed to vote. His candidature has been supported by the United Forum of Non-Bodo Ethnic Organisations in the BTC area. He will contest against sitting MP from Kokrajhar SK Bwismutiary. — TNS
|
|||||
|
HC tells Kaziranga chief to file report Guwahati, March 15 The High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice AM Sapre and Justice AK Goswami passed these orders while taking up a PIL and asked the KNP Director to prepare the report in consultation with stakeholders, organisations and parks all over the world and submit it before May 26. The court also asked the official to be present in person on each subsequent date of hearing in the case. The KNP Director in his submission before the court had sought two months to prepare a “high-quality methodical report to suggest various proposals for curbing poaching on a permanent basis and also on related issues dealing with the park and to preserve the rhino”. The KNP Director has been given liberty by the court to take help of all stakeholders, organisations and parks all over the world in preparing the report.
|
|||||
Agra Chennai Raipur Patna new delhi Diphu (Assam) Vadodara Jamshedpur
|
|
| 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 | |
