 |
|
|
Controversial CD
Allies remain neutral
PM meets BJP leaders on quota
10 acquitted of rioting charges
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ajit’s
hold on Jatland under threat Militant
sanctuary busted in Kolkata
Badal asks Centre to release funds for farmers
Four states for review of SC order on police reforms
12 TRS MLAs suspended
Amartya to head panel
Clues point to terror moles in Coast Guard
Reddy gives in to Oppn
Mohanty’s arrest stayed
Khandu sworn in Arunachal CM
Pranab to be discharged today
Pranab mishap: Probe ordered
Petrol stations closed on April 13
CM against land grabbing for SEZ
Panel to probe lion deaths
|
|
BJP questions EC powers
S. Satyanarayanan Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 9 The commission deferred the hearing till Wednesday to allow time to the party to present its viewpoint on complaints filed against it, as the Congress also moved a petition seeking derecognition of the BJP, along with the BSP and the Jan Morcha. The moment the top BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Satyapal Jain presented themselves for hearing before the three-member poll panel headed by CEC N. Gopalaswamy, they moved an application questioning the presence of Navin Chawla in the hearing, arguing that a case was pending against him in the Supreme Court over his receiving funds from a political party just weeks before his appointment in the commission by the UPA government in March, 2005, sources said. The application also pointed out that over 200 MPs belonging to the BJP and other NDA allies had signed a petition seeking his impeachment, the sources said. Meanwhile, in its submission before the commission, the BJP said the poll panel had no power to cancel its registration as demanded by its opponents even as it asserted that the party had no role in producing the CD, though it admitted that the CD was put in the press kit by someone in the party office. In its submission, signed by vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, it said the request for derecognition of a major national party could render the election process into a mockery. In its separate replies to the EC in response to the BSP and the former Prime Minister V P Singh-led Jan Morcha, which sought the party's derecognition, the BJP said the provisions of the Representation of People's Act (RPA) had no provision for cancellation or withdrawal of the registration. Besides, the BJP said the Supreme Court had also held that there was no power to cancel the registration of a political party once it was granted. The only exception to this provision to deregister a political party was when a party had attained the registration by fraud or forgery, it said denying all contents in the materials placed by the BSP. “The BJP should be derecognised and a CBI inquiry should be instituted against those who released the CD and they should be debarred from contesting elections,” Congress leader and Union minister Kapil Sibal told newspersons after they submitted their representation before the EC.
|
|
Allies remain neutral
New Delhi, April 9 On the contrary, Janata Dal (U) leader Sharad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress have not condemned the BJP’s attempt to communalise the election. In fact, the highly inflammatory CD, which was hurriedly withdrawn by the BJP after its release at a special function in Lucknow, has proved to be an embarrassment for BJP’s partners like the Janata Dal (U), the Trinamul Congress, the Biju Janata Dal and the SAD, which had never agreed with the saffron party’s communal agenda. While the BJP has decided to go on the offensive on this issue, even challenging the Election Commission’s authority to de-recognise the party, the Congress has also come down heavily on the saffron party for its deliberate attempt to communalise the elections in Uttar Pradesh by flaring up passions among different communities. Congress insiders maintained that the BJP was obviously on a slippery ground in Uttar Pradesh or else it would not have to resort to such desperate measures considering it had a series of electoral victories to its credit in Punjab, Uttarakhand and the Delhi municipal corporation elections. Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader and CWC member Devendra Dwivedi maintained that the release of the CD, its subsequent withdrawal and the party’s offensive on this issue are all part of a well-crafted strategy. He charged the entire BJP top brass was not only aware of the CD’s contents but also had actually endorsed it.
|
|
|
PM meets BJP leaders on quota
New Delhi, April 9 The meeting comes two days after discussions among the leaders of UPA constituents and the Left parties. Today’s meeting, held separately, was attended among others by V.K. Malhotra, Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shanker Prasad and TDP’s Yerran Naidu. Union Ministers Arjun Singh, H.R. Bhardwaj and A.K. Anthony also attended the meetings. “We put forth our views. We told them that the government has to take some decision in this regard whatever it deems fit,” Prasad said after the meeting without elaborating. Unfazed by the Supreme Court order on the OBC quota issue, the government had said after its meeting with leaders of the UPA and the Left parties last week that it would take all “appropriate steps” to ensure that the 27 per cent reservation for backward classes becomes operational from the coming academic session.
— PTI
|
|
|
10 acquitted of rioting charges
New Delhi, April 9 “The prosecution has not been able to prove the presence of the accused persons and this is one fact that it should have proved beyond all reasonable doubt,” said Metropolitan Magistrate Anu Grover Baliga. The court, while exonerating the accused, who allegedly were part of an unruly mob that burnt government vehicles and damaged other public properties in Palam Colony on September 25, 1990, also noted that even the investigating officer (IO) could not identify them correctly. “Further, the failure on the part of the IO to prepare the arrest memo of these accused persons is also fatal to the case of the prosecution,” it said in a recent order. Citing a Supreme Court judgement, the court observed that it was the “duty” of the prosecution to have proved that all these persons shared a common object with the unruly crowd but the latter adduced no evidence on record to corroborate the charges. “The prosecution has not been able to prove that the accused persons had any common object with the other members of the crowd and they were actuated by that common object (rioting),” it said. The court absolved —Sanjeev Kumar, Satish Kumar, Pawan, Shiv Shankar, Subhash Chand, Varun Kumar Mishra, Bhawani Shankar Aggarwal, Rajender Kumar, Bharat Bhushan and Michal Yates — of various provisions under IPC pertaining to rioting. — PTI
|
|
|
Ajit’s hold on Jatland under threat Baghpat, April 9 The answer is not easy as the RLD is engaged in a determined fight to retain its hold on the region. Ajit Singh’s party is locked in multi-cornered contests in almost every constituency of this Jat-dominated area of western UP. The RLD, which had contested the 2002 assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, had won 11 seats in this area, going to the polls on Friday. This time, Ajit Singh, despite his best efforts to strike a deal with either the Congress or the Jan Morcha, had to go it alone and has fielded RLD candidates in all 58 seats in this phase, and is campaigning hard along with his son Jayant. Having been a central minister several times, Ajit Singh has always been able to strike the best deal for himself, but it seems difficult that he would emerge as the kingmaker this time, a retired police officer observed. Former Lok Sabha MP Satpal Malik said the results this time in this region could be "startling" as the BSP had thrown a serious challenge to the RLD’s sway on Ajit Singh’s caste following by fielding Jat candidates. There used to be heavy polling in this area as Jat-dominated villages allegedly used to caste votes of not only those who are away on account of their jobs, but also of suppressed communities like Dalits. However, this time due to the Election Commission’s vigil and deployment of central paramilitary forces, this would be difficult, Malik said. Dalits would be able to vote freely, which was likely to help the BSP, he said. Another factor which would impact the final tally of the RLD was that the Congress may or may not improve its tally in the region but Rahul Gandhi’s campaign would definitely take away a chunk of Muslim votes, a primary schoolteacher, Mahipal Singh, pointed out. BSP chief Mayawati’s distribution of tickets this time to Brahmins, Banias and Jats apart from Dalits has created such a social equation in villages that would help her, shoe shop owner Shiv Sharma said. While all other communities were divided among a host of candidates, Dalits were united behind the BSP, he pointed out.
|
|
|
Militant sanctuary busted in Kolkata Kolkata, April 9 On the basis of a military-intelligence report, the army, the state CID and the Manipur police raided a house at Jadavpur in south Kolkata and arrested the activists belonging to People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleiak (Prepak) yesterday, the sources said. The duo were identified as ‘captain’ Leishamba (alias Rakesh Singh) and ‘lieutenant’ R K Dhanuka (alias Chakkmba) — both important members of Prepak, they said. Two others identified as ‘finance secretary’ Y Sanjay Singh, and ‘political secretary’ Lisaram Ibobi Singh managed to escape but were arrested after they landed at the Imphal airport by an Indian flight yesterday, the sources said. Several CDs and foreign currency, including Chinese Yuan, were seized from them. “Prima facie, militants are here at the instruction of their leader Chiklanda (alias Santi), belonging to Prepak (Santi faction),’’ the sources said. They said the militants used Kolkata as a haven. ‘’Under the garb of students, the N-E militants contact students of the north-east studying in Kolkata to spread militant ideology.’’ The sources said as per intelligence reports the Manipur militants also had hideouts at Baghajatin, Regent Park and Tollygunge.
— PTI
|
|
|
Badal asks Centre to release funds for farmers
New Delhi, April 9 The Chief Minister, who met home minister Shivraj Patil, said the farmers had told their tales of misery to him during the Sangat Darshan programme. He sought payment of Rs 36.60 crore as pending grant for construction of judicial court complexes. Badal urged the MHA to restore the funds allocated to Punjab for modernisation of police forces to the original amount of Rs 64 crore from the current Rs 20 crore. He said the 60:40 ratio between Punjab and Haryana for the appointment of the employees on deputation as per the Reorganisation Act should be maintained. In his meeting with union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, the Chief Minister stressed on timely arrangements for adequate supply of urea and DAP during the kharif season. Pawar assured the Chief Minister that there would be no shortage of fertilisers at the time of sowing. The minister said a committee was being constituted with representation of officers from the state government to resolve issues related to agriculture and food involving an amount of Rs 3660.49 crore pending with the Centre. Pawar assured Badal of clearing a proposal of Rs 545 crore to bring cooperative institutions out of the red. He also agreed to the proposal to give liberal grant to the state to promote the plantation of citrus fruits. During his meeting with human resource minister Arjun Singh, Badal urged him not to dilute the funding pattern of Sarv Sikhsha Abhiyan from 75:25 to 50:50. Badal also sought liberal grant for imparting quality education to the poor and bright students in Adarsh Schools to be set up in each block. He also met minister of state for housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja.
|
|
|
Four states for review of SC order on police reforms
New Delhi, April 9 Since the court in its revised order in January last had fixed a deadline of March 31 for the states to implement its order and asked them to file a compliance report by April 10, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu came up with review petitions, raising questions pertaining to the state laws, which they said were coming in the way of implementing the directives. The Punjab Government in its review petition moved before a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran made a cursory reference to “terrorism” also, but the main objections pertained to the five-point directives relating to the states. It opposed the two-year tenure for DGPs and other rank officers down to the SHO. Similar pleas were made by the three other states. The review petition moved by Punjab’s additional advocate-general Ajay Pal said various existing laws, including the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, already “covers various aspects of policing, including the service conditions” whereas the court had proceeded on the “assumption that there was no legislation on the subject… and it was free to legislate on the subject until such legislation is made.” The state has also questioned the apex court’s other four directives pertaining to setting up of the state security commission, separation of investigation from law and order, setting up of the police establishment board and the police complaint authority. The court fixed the review petitions for hearing on April 30. Meanwhile, Haryana Government in its affidavit said it had got passed an Act by the state Assembly for implementing the apex court order on March 21 and the same had been sent by the Governor to the President for his assent on April 3.
|
|
Hyderabad, April 9 When the House reassembled after a brief adjournment, Speaker K R Suresh Reddy named the TRS members who continued to plunge the House into pandemonium, demanding more Krishna water for fluorosis-hit Nalgonda district in the Telangana region. Following this, legislative affairs minister K. Rosaiah moved the motion for their suspension which was adopted by voice vote. The TRS members, staging a sit-in protest in the Well of the House, were lifted by marshals. — UNI
|
|
Amartya to head panel
Patna, April 9 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told The Tribune that he personally spoke to Sen to seek his consent to head the panel comprising international personalities, including the Prime Minister of Mauritius among others. “Sen has agreed to chair a few meetings abroad and one here too,” Nitish said. A bill for setting up the university was approved by the Bihar assembly at its budget session.
|
|
Clues point to terror moles in Coast Guard
Mumbai, April 9 The anti-terrorist squad of the Maharashtra police have taken custody of two LeT terrorists who had allegedly entered Mumbai via the sea after bribing Coast Guard officials. Three terrorists from the outfit had in early March confessed to paying off patrolling officers from the Coast Guard off the western coast to gain entry into the country. The LeT operatives were held in Jammu and Kashmir. They were Mohammad Jamil, Abdul Majeed and Mohammad Zuber and they were part of the group of eight LeT operatives who had entered the country last month via the western coast. Police officials say they have found strong clues about the identities of the Coast Guard men who let the terrorists in. The arrested men told investigators that they were brought ashore Mumbai by their Coast Guard contacts who also arranged for their onward transportation to Kashmir.
|
|
Reddy gives in to Oppn
Hyderabad, April 9 In his three-hour long reply to the motion of thanks to the Governor's address to the joint session of the assembly and the council, the Chief Minister announced a judicial inquiry into the allotment of land to Raghuram Cements in which his son Jagan Mohan Reddy is a director. In the same breath, Rajasekhara Reddy also ordered judicial inquiries into Nadargul land case as well as the latest scam in the district primary education programme (DPEP). Launching a scathing attack on the opposition, Reddy said the TDP had unleashed a malicious campaign against the allotment of 487 acres to his son’s company. “The land is uncultivable and by no stretch of the imagination, can it cost more than Rs 15,000 an acre. It was to ensure fair play that our government fixed a price of Rs 1 lakh an acre. Still the opposition made it a big issue,” he said. Disclosing that the government would issue an auction notice tomorrow for the same land fixing an upset price of Rs 50,000, Reddy asked the TDP members to participate in the auction. “We are prepared to give away the land at Rs 50,001 to the opposition,” he said. On the DPEP scam in which his personal assistant Suryanarayana Reddy was said to be involved, the Chief Minister dubbed newspaper reports as inaccurate. He said the scam had begun during the previous TDP government, and that the whole issue of putting unutilised funds in dummy accounts was a “systems failure”. “Everyone who has a role in this scam would be brought to book. If anybody from my office is found to have been involved, he would face the music,” he said. When TDP members tried interrupting his speech demanding that the inquiry should be headed by a sitting high court judge, the Chief Minister said the court had already refused to spare a sitting judge for such inquiries. “We will go by the court's advice,” he said.
|
|
New Delhi, April 9 A Bench of Justice C K Thakker and Altmas Kabir stayed the arrest on an SLP moved by the DGP, who is apprehending arrest by the Rajasthan Police. Bitti Mohanty, son of the IPS officer, who was convicted for the rape of a foreign national in Rajasthan, had escaped while being out on a parole. The IPS officer had stood surety of his son and hence had become liable for his escape. — PTI
|
|
|
Khandu sworn in Arunachal CM
Guwahati, April 9 K. Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Nagaland, administered the oath to the 52-year-old new Chief Minister at Raj Bhawan in Itanagar this evening. An official source in Itanagar informed The Tribune that 31 out of the total 33 ruling Congress legislators attended the CLP meeting while two MLAs stayed away on health grounds.
|
|
|
New Delhi, April 9 An army spokesperson said minister Mukherjee’s condition had been reviewed by a team of specialists at the Army Hospital (Research & Referral) early this morning. “He had a sound sleep yesterday and continues to remain active and cheerful,” the spokesperson added. A fresh series of investigations, including Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of the head, and CT scan of the chest — were done. These ruled out any bony or internal injuries, said the spokesperson. — UNI
|
|
|
Pranab mishap: Probe ordered
Kolkata, April 9 The decision was taken at a meeting at Writer’s Building in the presence of the chief secretary, the home secretary and the DGP today. Talking to mediapersons, home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy denied there was any security lapse, but said an inquiry had still been ordered to dispel any misunderstanding.
|
|
Petrol stations closed on April 13
New Delhi, April 9 The Federation of All-India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) has given the strike call, which will be effective from April 12 midnight. Ashok Badhwal, president, Petrol Dealers Association, said, “If the government does not consider our demands till April 10, then we will go for a one-day protest strike on April 13. If the demands are not met even after that, we will go for an indefinite nationwide strike from April 28.
|
|
|
CM against land grabbing for SEZ
Patna, April 9 Besides, he also assured the people of the government’s resolve against any forceful acquisition of land for industrialisation too. "Neither I am in favour of any forceful acquisition, nor another Nandigram in Bihar like West Bengal", he told mediapersons here. He, however, argued that those blindly opposing the move to acquire land should understand that industrialisation was a must for the development of any
state.
|
|
|
Panel to probe lion deaths
New Delhi, April 9 The National Tiger Conservation Authority, a statutory body under the MoEF, today announced the composition and the terms of reference of the committee constituted. The five-member committee will give appraisal of the protection strategy in vogue vis-a-vis mortality of lions during the past three years due to natural, disease or poaching, resource dependency of local people on Gir habitat and steps taken towards redressing park people interface conflicts.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video (
