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For a crime-free UP Rebel BSP MP Umakant Yadav in Hazratganj police station after being arrested by the police outside Chief Minister Mayawati's residence, when he reached there to meet her on Wednesday. — PTI
photo Prez poll: UPA decision likely on June 5 |
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Trehan bids adieu to Escorts, joins Apollo
Pranab flays Pakistan for continuing infiltration
Yoga postures patented in US, India protests
Speaker for ban on tainted persons seeking election
Govt cancels wheat import tender
Conference from June 2
HP CD issue
Rajasthan govt has failed miserably: Cong
Rajasthan violence: trains diverted
Gurjar
agitation
Maoists blast hydel power plant
Bihar boy gets 497/500 in class X
Monsoon to hit N-E soon
Five hurt in police firing
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For a crime-free UP
Lucknow, May 30 Yadav was arrested outside the 13-Mall Avenue residence of the CM when he came to meet her, director general of police G L Sharma told mediapersons here. The MP, along with his son and supporters, allegedly razed some houses and shops in Phulpur area in Azamgarh district yesterday while trying to “forcibly” occupy a piece of land. A case has been registered in Phulpur police station in this regard. Acting immediately, the BSP suspended Yadav and expelled his son Dinesh from the party. Yadav allegedly wanted to occupy by force the land on which the shops and houses had been built. They had allegedly asked the owner to sell the property, Sharma said, adding that when the owner refused, they brought bulldozers and allegedly razed the houses and shops. Personnel of Special Task Force were keeping a track of Yadav after he fled from Phulpur and his presence was later confirmed in Aliganj area of Lucknow last night through electronic surveillance, the DGP said. The MP had expressed his desire to meet the CM. But taking a tough stance, Mayawati alerted her security staff and police officials were deployed there to nab the MP, Sharma said. He said he, along with principal secretary (home), K Chandramauli met Mayawati this morning and informed her about the entire incident in Phulpur. She immediately gave them a go ahead to arrest the MP, he added. The MP and his supporters also allegedly fired in the air to terrorise people, who gathered there to protest their act of “vandalism”, Sharma said. The government had taken a serious view of the vandalism, the DGP said.
— PTI
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Prez poll: UPA decision likely on June 5 New Delhi, May 30 This would be the first meeting of the UPA allies and supporting parties under one roof on the presidential candidate issue. They have been holding separate consultations on the issue and discussing various names. Sources indicate that the meeting to be held here on June 5, is expected to finalise the UPA coalition’s candidate for the post of President. Apart from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, other leaders expected to attend the meeting include NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD head Lalu Prasad, LJP Ramvilas Party, and DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi. Left parties would be represented by CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat is unlikely to attend the meeting, as he would be outside the country. However, it not yet clear whether BSP supremo Mayawati, who holds critical numbers in the electoral college, would be attending the meeting. Her party has crucial 61,319 votes in the electoral college out of 10.98 lakh votes. Indications are that the Election Commission could issue notification for the presidential poll on June 11. The term of present incumbent A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, ends in July. As the Congress president would be on a three-day tour to Europe from June 8, sources indicate that the UPA plans to finalise presidential candidate before the notification. Several names are floating as probable candidates for the UPA, however, indications are that the leaders are seriously discussing the candidature of union home minister Shivraj Patil, union human resources minister Arjun Singh, union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee. Sources indicate that Shivraj Patil and Arjun Singh seem to have emerged as top contenders for the post as they fulfil the criteria set by the Left parties, whose numbers are crucial for the UPA coalition. Left parties had stated that they would support the candidature of only those candidates who fulfil three criteria - impeccable secular credentials, a good understanding of political complexities and the ability to ensure a balance among the legislature, judiciary and executive. Although the NDA has left it to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to announce the alliance’s candidature after holding consultations, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat appears to be the front runner.
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Trehan bids adieu to Escorts, joins Apollo New Delhi, May 30 Putting behind all hard feelings resulting from the 10-day long slanging match between Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director of Fortis Health Care, which has a majority stake in Escorts, Trehan wished the EHIRC, his 19-year-old baby “good wishes for the future.” Dr Trehan, who held the post of executive director of EHIRC, was sacked on May 18 by Shivinder Mohan Singh on grounds of alleged conflict of interest arising from his ambitious Medcity project in Gurgaon. Dr Trehan's close associates - Dr Yatin Mehta, director, anaesthesia, Shriram Khattar, business head, Escorts, B. Kaul, general manager, pharmacy and allied services and his administrative staff, Jugal Sharma and K.L Sehgal - were also forced to put in their papers. It was only on Friday evening that the Fortis management decided to mend fences with Dr Trehan and announced its decision to restore his position. Addressing mediapersons at a crowded press conference today evening after being welcomed on behalf of the 50,000 strong Apollo Hospitals group by its chairman, Prathap C. Reddy, Dr Trehan said that he was moving to Apollo with a sizable team and they would be available for consultations from Monday. Asked to comment on the fate of patients lined up for surgery at EHIRC, Dr Trehan said, “I’m taking care of the ones who are there. I will continue to see them. We still have three days to go.” Hailing Dr Trehan as an outstanding cardio-thoracic surgeon, Apollo Hospitals group chairman said that he will have the freedom to bring in as many team members from Escorts. At the same time, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals’ managing director Richard Larison said that Dr Trehan would be joining as senior consultant in the cardiology departments.
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Pranab flays Pakistan for continuing infiltration
New Delhi, May 30 Observers here are attaching a huge significance to Mukherjee’s remarks, a senior minister who is not known to shoot his mouth off for nothing. New Delhi voicing concerns on terrorism from European soil comes at a time when Pakistan has repeatedly complained of lack of progress on the Kashmir issue. In a strongly put intervention on counter-terrorism, Mukherjee told
ASEM: “Despite repeated assurances (from Pakistan), the infiltration of terrorists from across India’s borders continues.” Mukherjee did not stop here, adding that the infrastructure to support terrorist organisations and activities had also “not been fully dismantled”. Pakistan is also a member of
ASEM. This is the first time when India and Pakistan are attending the ASEM foreign ministers’ conference. Mukherjee made it clear that ending cross-border terrorism remained “a principal goal and challenge” for India. “India has lived with cross-border terrorism for over two decades. Recent terrorist acts, like the blast a few days ago in a mosque in Hyderabad and bomb explosions last February in two compartments of the Samjhauta Express… only reflect the painful reality that terrorism continues to pose a grave threat to India’s security and communal harmony,” the minister said. The Indian foreign minister remarked that terrorist acts anywhere, whether in Mumbai and Hyderabad or in Bali and London, endangered the peace and security of all states. “The possibility that terrorists may acquire and use weapons of mass destruction has added an alarming new dimension to this threat,” he warned. Mukherjee enumerated how India’s track record of fighting terrorism was second to none. He pointed out that India had signed 27 Joint Working Groups
(JWGs) on counter-terrorism - 25 with individual countries and two with EU and
BIMSTEC. Yesterday, making another intervention from the same forum, Mukherjee did his best to sensitise the international community of the dangers of Al-Qaida and Taliban and put Pakistan in the dock for trouble in Afghanistan. He said “the arc of instability” was now spreading on either side of the Durand Line. “The area of instability now covers both sides of the Durand Line. It radiates and projects its influence in all areas west of the Indus. Early warning signs of this happening were perhaps ignored. We now face a situation where in a large swathe of southern Afghanistan, international development activity has slowed down to the point of being non-existent,” he had said yesterday.
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Yoga postures patented in US, India protests
New Delhi, May 30 The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) has written both to the Commerce Ministry and Indian Mission, setting the stage for challenging the patent on yoga.
"The Commerce Ministry has also taken a strong view on the issue and is in the process of sending a protest note to the US trade representative. The mission on the other hand would deal with US Patent and Trademark Office," said a senior official. The USPTO has issued 150 yoga-related copyrights, 134 patents on yoga accessories, and 2,315 yoga trademarks. Most of these patents have been obtained by people of Indian origin. "That is the saddest part," the official said. He said that the "kriyas", as enumerated in ancient texts, have been known for thousands of years and Indian challenge would be on a premise that a patent cannot be granted on something that is already known. India has won similar cases in patents granted to turmeric and neem. To check similar occurrences, the government is working on a massive project to compile and digitise the 1,500 'yogic kriyas and asanas' of which work would be completed on 150 most commonly used postures by December this year. These would be made available to patent offices in US and EU along with videos so that patents are not issued on these kriyas. India has also been pushing in the World Trade Organisation to get protection for its traditional knowledge on the lines of geographic indicators which are available to region-specific products like basmati rice and Darjeeling tea. — PTI
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Speaker for ban on tainted persons seeking election
New Delhi, May 30 "We must cleanse our political system of people who have no real faith and commitment to our democratic polity. They should also be debarred from opportunities to pollute the temple of democracy, our Parliament and legislatures", Chatterjee said in his keynote address on Parliamentary democracy in India at a function organised by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to mark the birth centenary of Babu Jagjivan Ram here. The Speaker also made a reference to allegations of human smuggling against some lawmakers following the arrest last month of BJP MP Babubhai Katara, who allegedly tried to take a woman and a boy on the passports of his wife and son. Terming the expulsion of ten MPs in 2005 in the cash-for-query scam as a watershed in Parliamentary democracy, Chatterjee observed that nowhere have so many elected representatives in a national Parliament been expelled from a misdemeanour by a vote of the House. Recalling a three-month suspension of four of the Lok Sabha MPs in connection with MPLAD scheme irregularities, he said the step only confirms the House resolve to cleanse itself for laying down new standards of conduct for the lawmakers. "I feel that time has come when we must stand up united against the intrusion of money power and muscle power in our electoral process and also against people of questionable conduct and credibility into the political arena", the speaker said and added that Parliamentary democracy would begin to wilt if Parliament lost public trust and did not function effectively. Chatterjee, who recalled that the Lok Sabha lost almost one third of its scheduled time in disruptions during the Budget session, lamented that confrontational politics was rendering Parliament ineffective and thus was not able to carry out its primary responsibilities. This derailment of Parliament from its primary duty of law making is not going unnoticed. Such is the current phase of competitive and confrontational politics that Parliament is finding itself unable to discharge its primary duty of informed debating and consensus building on contentious issues, he pointed out and warned that the present public perception over relevance of Parliament could bring about the end of democracy.
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Govt cancels wheat import tender
New Delhi, May 30 "We have decided to cancel the tender as the price of 263 dollars per tonne quoted by the bidder is high considering that the international prices are expected to soften following hopes of high global output," a senior food ministry official said.
The government will soon inform the authorised canalising agency, the State Trading Corporation to inform the decision to the bidders, the official said. STC had, on April 30, invited bids from global suppliers to import 1 million tonnes of wheat. India imported 55 lakh tonnes of the foodgrain last year, after a six-year gap, to augment stocks for distribution under public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes. Out of the total procurement target of 151 lakh tonnes, 104 lakh tonnes were procured as on yesterday. As much as 93,111 tonnes of wheat was procured yesterday itself. Buoyed by the trend, the government has decided to extend the period for wheat procurement and the bonus of Rs 100 per tonne by 15 days till June 15 for the main suppliers - Punjab and Haryana. Though the wheat procurement is expected to fall short of the target, the reports of stock holding by farmers on expectations of higher prices has brought hopes of larger than expected purchase for the ration shops. Wheat procurement by the Food Corporation of India has reached 104.22 lakh tonnes against arrival of 143.39 lakh tonnes as on May 29. The Food Ministry officials expect the wheat procurement to cross 120 lakh tonnes this year. Giving details of procurement, a senior FCI official said in Punjab it stood at 65.04 lakh tonnes against an arrival of 77.88 lakh tonnes while in Haryana at 32.48 lakh tonnes of the foodgrain were procured against an arrival of 36.09 lakh tonnes. Though the Food Ministry officials had been worried over low procurement in the country's largest wheat producer Uttar Pradesh, the purchases from the state have improved. Wheat procurement from Uttar Pradesh stood at 2,96,180 tonnes as on yesterday against arrivals of 9,36,000 tonnes. The Centre has constituted a high level committee to study the reasons for low wheat procurement from Uttar Pradesh. The wheat procurement target for UP has been fixed at 15 lakh tonnes this year. Meanwhile, government has decided that private parties purchasing wheat in excess of 50,000 tonnes (total purchases made throughout the country) will continue to submit weekly returns. Under the Wheat (Stock Declaration by Companies or Firms or Individuals) Order, 2007, private parties will continue to submit weekly returns up to June to the Department of Food and Public Distribution, an official release said. From July, these companies are required to file monthly returns up to December, it added. In the notification issued on March 1, weekly returns were stipulated up to May 2007. The move is seen as an exercise to reconcile the wheat production figures and its domestic availability to determine the level of hoarding. — PTI
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Saarc MPs to meet in Shimla
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 30 Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee will inaugurate the two-day conference on June 2 in Shimla. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee will deliver the keynote address and former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha deliver the closing speech. Leading members of Parliament, apart from journalists from the region, will take part in the discussions. The initiative for bringing together the elected representatives from South Asia has been taken by the South Asian Free Media Association, Safma, the Saarc-recognised organisation of journalists. Keeping in mind the vision of a South Asian Parliament, the conference will deliberate on steps to be taken for continuous contacts among the parliamentarians, either through a forum or any other self-sustaining mechanism, Safma president K K Katyal said in a statement here. Katyal said in all, 87 MPs had accepted the invitation. This is the numerical break-up from each country: India 24 Pakistan 23 Bangladesh 12 (former MPs) Nepal 8, Sri Lanka 6, Bhutan 2, the Maldives 4 and Afghanistan 8. Among the participants from Pakistan are: Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Sher Bano Sherry Rehman, PPP, Tehmina Daultana, Muslim League (Nawaz), Liaqat Baloch, MMA, Farooq Sattar, MQM, and Attiya Inayutullah and Sheikh Waqqar Akram, Pakistan Muslim League.
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Facts being ascertained, says Cong
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 30 Responsding to queries about allegations made against the Chief Minister by the suspended MLA, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said the party was ascertaining all facts. "We are in the process of ascertaining all facts and necessary steps will be taken if required," she said. The allegations, coming during the campaign to crucial Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, have caused embarrassment to the Congress.
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Rajasthan govt has failed miserably: Cong
New Delhi, May 30 Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said the tragic loss of life should have been prevented and the government should have taken effective steps after anticipating the situation. Taking a dig at state Chief Minister Vasundhara
Raje, who was portrayed as a Goddess in a poster recently, Natarajan said that she had been a mute witness to deification and had failed to fulfil her constitutional obligation to maintain law and order in the state. “The elected representatives were too busy depicting her (the Chief Minister) as goddess to turn attention to pressing problems,” the spokesman said. Asked about the Congress stand on demand by Gurjar community for ST status that had led to the agitation, the spokesperson did not give a categoric reply. “It is a serious and complicated issue with no piecemeal solutions. A decision can be taken only after wide ranging discussions at national level after consulting all stakeholders,” she said. Meanwhile, Sachin Pilot, Congress MP from
Dausa, today demanded imposition of President’s Rule in the state, saying the BJP government had lost the moral ground to rule. He alleged that police had resorted to
unprovoked firing.
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Rajasthan violence: trains diverted
New Delhi, May 30 Railway Board Member (Railway Traffic) V N Mathur told newspersons this evening that All major trains, including the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express and the Delhi-Mumbai August Kranti Express, passing through Rajasthan had been cancelled or diverted due to the unrest in the state. The decision whether or not to continue the cancellation/diversion would be reviewed tomorrow morning. At least 15 people died in yesterday's violence in Dausa and other parts of Rajasthan as members of the Gujjar community went on rampage seeking ST status for the community.
— UNI
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Gurjar
agitation New Delhi, May 30 The Centre has also asked these states to hold talks with the leaders of Gurjars to maintain law, order and peace. The advisory from the Union Home Ministry comes in the wake of sizeable Gurjar population in these three states.
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Maoists blast hydel power plant
Hyderabad, May 30 The Maoists blew up the control room of APGENCO's 24 MW plant at Donkarayi late last night by using explosives affecting the power production and power supply to nearby villages. Police said about 50 armed naxalites went to the control room of the plant and blasted it after asking the employees on night duty to come out, police said. In the blast, an assistant engineer sustained head injuries when he was hit by some glass. The injured engineer was rushed to a nearby hospital and his condition was stated to be out of danger. APGENCO managing director Ajay Jain told PTI today that control panels of the hydro electric power plant were damaged in the blast which are yet to be replaced. “We have already rushed a team of engineers to take up the work,” Jain said adding a team of senior officials led by him is leaving for the site. As the hydro electric power plants were located in remote villages, there was a need to strengthen the security at each plant, Jain said. "It was a disturbing trend as the naxalites had also blasted Sileru hydro electric project in 2005," the MD said.
— PTI
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Bihar boy gets 497/500 in class X
Patna, May 30 A student of Gyan Niketan School in Patna, 16-year-old Manish scored a staggering 99.4 per cent in the exams. The Bihar boy missed 100 per cent by just three marks securing 497 out of a maximum possible 500 marks. Manish, who made Bihar proud by his record performance, wants to study engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Manish said, "I never dreamt of topping the CBSE class X examination but I was sure of securing above 90 per cent as I scored over 95 per cent marks in the pre-board examination". Manish’s father, Sanjay Kumar, is an accountant with the postal department while his mother Sunita Kumari is a housewife." Manish's success has made every one of us proud. My telephone rings continuously as known and unknown people call to congratulate Manish and us", said her mother. The principal of the school, D.K.Mukherjee described Manish as an introvert. "He has always been a good student", he remarked. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too congratulated Manish for his brilliant performance.
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Monsoon to hit N-E soon
Guwahati, May 30 A source in Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) here, informed that the northeast might hope for its share of monsoon showers during the first week of June. If this actually happens, it will be good for the primarily rain-fed paddy fields in the region. Last year, the erratic monsoon had led to low yield of rice. This in turn led to a steep rise in price of rice which was not good for the population here as rice is the staple diet in the northeast. More than 9 lakh farmers and 6 lakh hectares of cropland in Assam were affected by last year's drought-like situation precipitated by extremely erratic monsoon. "We have been praying for a timely monsoon this year so that the farmers can make up for the loss suffered last year," an official in Assam agriculture department said. This year pre-monsoon showers have already washed parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Assam and Meghalaya have received 365 mm of rainfall so far this year while Arunachal Pradesh has received just over 415 mm. However, there is also cause for worry in Assam where about 32 lakh hectares are flood-prone.
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Blaze engulfs Mall, 300 rescued Kanpur, May 30 Using ladders and ropes, firefighters rescued 300 people trapped inside the City Centre complex, district magistrate Anurag Shrivastava told PTI. He said 10 people suffered minor injuries in the fire which broke out at around 6 pm. Eight fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire which engulfed the entire sixth floor of the building. The exact cause of the fire, which was extinguished after an hour, was not immediately known, the DM said, adding that a probe had been ordered into
it. — PTI
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Five hurt in police firing
Chennai, May 30 According to the police, the crowd which had gathered pelted stones and damaged several police vehicles and public transport injuring 20 persons. Trouble broke out when a local Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader forced the police to give him the key to the temple offering box in presence of a section of the trustees. The box had not been opened for the last two years following a family dispute among the trustees after the death of one of them. Local people protested and the situation went out of control forcing the police to lathicharge and burst tear gas shells. Failing to disperse the crowd, the police opened fire injuring five persons who were admitted to a hospital. As the news spread, a large crowd gathered and blocked the road while the box was opened and the money was being counted.
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BSP Lok Sabha member Uma Kant Yadav, facing charges of razing shops and houses in Azamgarh, was arrested outside the residence
of UP Chief Minister Mayawati on her orders for his “unlawful act” today.
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