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Govt gearing up
for drought: PM Bhakra hydel
units face shutdown Congress comes in
defence of Sibu Soren
SC order leaves
out post-disaster victims Judge dismissed
for granting bail to Shahabuddin |
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SC’s no to stay
warrant against JD(U) MP India to have
defence pact with Lanka Wait and watch on
water issue, experts tell HP Food, Civil
Supplies for Raja Bhaiya UP hikes petrol,
diesel prices Pappu Yadav
shifted to Beur jail hospital
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Govt gearing up for drought: PM New Delhi, July 21 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today informed the Lok Sabha that the government would review the situation early next month and draw up contingency measures of ensuring safe drinking water in the affected regions and employment generation schemes. Dr Manmohan Singh said he had personally reviewed the situation with ministers and secretaries and instructed the Cabinet Secretary to review the situation on a weekly basis. Making a statement on the drought situation in several parts of the country, he said, “out of 36 meteorological subdivisions in the country, 16 subdivisions have received deficient or scanty rainfall so far. The government shall spare no efforts in providing all possible assistance to people in the eventuality of drought.” The Prime Minister said,” Ministry of Agriculture is keeping a close watch on the situation. Officers have reviewed drought relief preparedness in AP, MP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.” Telengana and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra
Pradesh, Vidharbha in Maharashtra, Western Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Western Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand had so far rain deficiency ranging from 25 per cent to 51 per cent against normal rain, he said. Elaborating on the status of monsoon, he said the cumulative rainfall during June 1 to July 14 this year has been 264 mm compared to the normal rainfall of 291.8 mm, a deviation of 10 per cent below normal. The Prime Minister asserted that it had been decided that the issue of revising norms for the assistance deserved to be considered in the event of prolonged calamities. A committee consisting of representatives of concerned ministries and relief commissioners of AP and Orissa has been constituted with Agriculture Secretary as its Chairperson in this regard. The committee shall submit its recommendations to the high-level committee shortly, he said adding “if the committee recommends higher allocation, this would be considered positively”. Elaborating on the drought situation, he said the crop-sowing season in affected states extended up to the end of July with delayed rainfall. The precise extent of unsown area could only be assessed after the end of July. Therefore, assessment for employment generation under the drought relief measures would be considered after the end of July, he said adding all state governments had drawn up their plans to ensure drinking water supply in areas affected by deficient or scanty rain in the eventuality of shortage of water. |
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Bhakra hydel units face shutdown New Delhi, July 21 In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether the government was aware the Bhakra hydel unit was on the verge of shutdown as the water level had plunged to the lowest level at 1466.14 feet, Power
Minister P. M. Sayeed said “Yes Sir.” The minister said the level of Bhakra reservoir touched 1466.11 feet on June 14, 2004, as against the dead storage level of 1462 feet. The operations of Bhakra and Pong reservoirs are periodically reviewed by the
Technical Committee of Bhakra Beas Management Board, comprising representatives from the
Irrigation Departments and power utilities of all the participating states. |
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Congress comes
in defence of Sibu Soren New Delhi, July 21 While the Congress has jumped to Mr Soren’s defence, the UPA government has maintained a studied silence on this issue. It is hoping that the JMM leader will be able to evade arrest and get necessary relief from the Jharkhand High Court when his petition comes up for hearing tomorrow. However, Mr Soren’s position might become untenable if his arrest warrant is not quashed by the High Court. In such a case, he might be forced to resign from the Cabinet. While allies like Rail Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav are prevailing upon Mr Soren not to resign, there is a section which believes the JMM leader’s continuance as a Central Minister could become source of embarrassment for the UPA government. On the other hand, there is a view that this is a deliberate attempt by the BJP to create fissures between the JMM and the Congress, forcing them to part company. The Congress party, however, is aware of the BJP gameplan since Jharkhand is headed for assembly elections. The JMM and the Congress had swept the recent Lok Sabha polls in the state and the two are looking at a repeat performance in the assembly elections. A falling out between these two would only benefit the BJP. Defending Mr Soren, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the sudden revival of the 29-year-old case by the BJP state government clearly shows this to be an instance of political
vendatta. He said it is ironical that the same BJP, which is now targeting Mr Soren, was actually wooing him for a tie-up in the Lok Sabha polls. Mr Sharma reiterated that the case against Mr Soren pertained to a mass movement in which thousands of people had participated. In fact, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda was also involved in a similar case. If the BJP is so concerned about this pending case, why did it not expedite it when it was in power at the Centre, Mr Sharma asked. He said an arrest warrant issued by a subordinate court did not mean that Mr Soren was an absconder, adding that the JMM leader has every right to seek judicial relief, which he has done. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad explained that Mr Soren had sent a letter to the presiding officers of both Houses of Parliament informing them that he was going out of station. He also mentioned that his work may be looked after either by the Minister of State or any other minister. |
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SC order leaves out post-disaster victims Bhopal, July 21 Disposing of a string of writ petitions on October 3,1991, a Division Bench of the apex court observed: “We are of the view that such contingencies shall be taken care of by obtaining an appropriate group insurance cover from the General Insurance Corporation of India or the Life Insurance Corporation of India for compensation to this contingent class of possible prospective victims”. The judgement said: “The period of insurance cover should be eight years in the future. The number of persons to be covered by this group insurance scheme should not less than one lakh of persons… as this figure broadly accords with the percentage of population of the affected wards… and the number of persons found to be affected by medical categorisation…The possible claimants fall into two categories: those who were in existence at the time of exposure; and those who were yet unborn and whose congenital defects are traceable to MiC toxicity inherited or derived congenitally”. Madhya Pradesh had a BJP government led by Mr Sunderlal Patwa when the Supreme Court judgement came. It did not bother to follow it up. The BJP leaders had never shown any concern for the victims of the world’s biggest industrial disaster. |
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Judge dismissed for granting bail to Shahabuddin Patna, July 21 Sources in the court said a meeting of the standing committee of Patna High Court held on July 17 last, chaired by Chief Justice R. S. Dhawan, resolved to take the step against Mr Shrivastava on the basis of pleas made by Mr Justice B. K. Jha, who was hearing the case relating to the MP. The MP was an accused in a case of abduction and subsequent murder of one Munna Chaudhury in 2001 and he surrendered before the court on August 13, last year. He was granted provisional bail by the fast track court on May 28 last and the high court found the judge acting beyond his power and ordered to put him back behind the bars on July 15. The high court also ordered to hold up pensionary benefits enjoyed by Mr
Shrivastava. — UNI |
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SC’s no to stay warrant against
JD(U) MP New Delhi, July 21 Dismissing his petition, a Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice
C.K. Thakkar said “MPs are not immune from court proceedings... and the petitioner should surrender before the Bhagalpur Chief Judicial Magistrate within 10 days.” A vacation bench of the apex court had earlier stayed the execution of the arrest warrants for three weeks on June 28 and Prabhunath Singh today sought extension of the stay
order. Prabunath Singh is the fourth politician from Bihar and Jharkhand, to get adverse orders from the courts recently. |
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India to have defence pact with Lanka New Delhi, July 21 A political signal to this effect was given by the Indian leadership when the visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and National Security Advisor J N Dixit on July 19. The defence pact issue came up for discussions during Mr Rajapaksa’s talks with the Indian leadership during his July 17-19 working visit. It was understood that the Government of India would go ahead in implementing the proposed defence pact in a low-key manner. The text of the defence pact is still being worked out. It is for the larger national interests, rather than political ideology of some regional parties, that the Manmohan Singh government is willing to go ahead with the defence agreement with Sri Lanka. That is because India has a security and strategic interest in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Ms Nirupama Rao, India’s High Commissioner-Designate to Colombo, joined in the talks. Mr Rajapaksa, sources said, urged India to waive off the entrance fees for the Buddhist temples in the country that New Delhi agreed to examine sympathetically. India also assured economic assistance for rural reconstruction and rehabilitation and Indian technical and economic assistance for certain infrastructure projects. The quantum of this assistance was still to be worked out. Mr Rajapaksa also sought rehabilitation and reconstruction of the embattled North-East Province of Sri Lanka. The two sides also exchanged views on the peace process between the LTTE and Sri Lanka. India appreciated that the ceasefire had been holding for the past two years and conveyed that any internal arrangements should be part of the final settlement. Earlier, Mr J N Dixit, after his meeting with Mr Rajapakse, said he “conveyed the government’s policies which were based on long-term Indo- Sri Lankan friendship and upholding of Sri Lanka’s interests”. |
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Wait and watch on water issue, experts tell HP New Delhi, July 21 “The Himachal Cabinet has though decided to contest the matter in the Supreme Court but it has been advised by legal experts to wait and watch the moves of the other affected states of Rajasthan and Haryana and tread with caution on the issue,” sources close to the state government’s legal advisers in the apex court said today. “The state government has been advised that it should watch as to what stand is taken by Rajasthan and Haryana, which are the two most affected states,” the sources said. They said the Himachal Government’s Law Secretary is likely to arrive in the capital in a day or two to discuss the matter further with the legal experts “but a cautious approach will be adopted by the state government in the matter as it has to take into consideration as how much effect the termination of agreements by Punjab will have on the interests of the state in real legal terms.” The Himachal Government had various options open to it so far as the contesting of the matter in the Supreme Court was concerned, they said. The state could become a party to the application already filed by the Centre seeking fresh direction in the case related to the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue from the court even though it was not party to the case, wait whether the Union Government made making Presidential reference under Article 143 on “unilateral” abrogation of water accords by Punjab and challenge it on its own by filing a suit to ensure that the state’s interests were protected, they said. Asked if the Virbhadra Singh government still decided to file a petition against the “Punjab Termination of Agreement Act” to bail out the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, which found itself in a piquant situation as the opposition-ruled Haryana and Rajasthan had not shown any inclination to approach the court as they wanted to expose the discomfiture” of the Manmohan Singh Ministry on the issue, the sources said the “legal advise still would be that the state should wait and watch rather than taking a hasty step.” “It has to be seen how much is the loss to Himachal in the abrogation of the accords, and therefore, there is no immediate cause of action requiring filing of a petition at this stage,” the sources said. “Still if the state government decides, the matter will be processed in accordance with the law,” they said. |
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Food, Civil Supplies for Raja Bhaiya Lucknow, July 21 In a minor reshuffle Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav divested senior Samajwadi leader and brother Shivpal Singh Yadav of the Agriculture portfolio. He now gets the PWD, besides Agriculture Export. He, however, remains the head of the Mandi Samiti. The new Agriculture Minister is Dr Ashok Vajpayee whose old portfolio goes to Raja Bhaiya. Mr Naresh Agarwal is the new Transport Minister. Mr Agarwal’s earlier portfolio of Tourism will now be handled as additional charge by Mr Kakob Hamid. |
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UP hikes petrol, diesel prices Lucknow, July 21 UP Chief Secretary
V.K. Mittal said yesterday that the raising of trade tax on petrol and diesel from 20 per cent to 21 per cent would help the state mobilise an additional revenue of Rs 94 crore annually. This decision comes virtually just before the Vidhan Sabha meets on Thursday for a short monsoon session. Importantly, prices of diesel are slated to go up when the state is already facing an acute power shortage, besides imminent drought in many districts in western UP. Another significant decision taken by the Cabinet was to go in for the appointment of 3000 Urdu teachers at the |
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Pappu Yadav shifted to Beur jail hospital
Patna, July 21 A police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rakesh Kumar Dubey escorted Pappu Yadav from the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) to the jail where he was admitted to the jail hospital. Armed police personnel were deployed at the prisoner’s ward of the PMCH to thwart any attempt by the followers of Pappu Yadav to sabotage execution of the court’s order. Besides, two rooms for himself, Pappu Yadav had occupied another room for his attendants in the emergency unit and was enjoying all facilities there. Pappu Yadav was virtually running his political activities from the PMCH.
— UNI |
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