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Consensual sex with minor girl no defence against rape: SC
No insurance for illegal travellers on goods vehicles
Lalu kickstarts campaign to oust Nitish
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Sharp rise in ministry clearance to security-seeking VIPs
No one happy with Coimbatore blasts case judgement
Conference on sexual health begins today
ULFA puts up brave front on ‘surrender dramas’
Gujarat scars not easy to heal: NMC chief
‘SP not to give in to Cong blackmail’
Rizwanur, Priyanka were asked to
'convert'
15 killed in rain-hit TN
NBCC handing over land to Bangladesh: AGP
Advani predicts mid-term poll
RTI Act does not extend to personal details: CIC
Realignment opportunistic: Left
Incorrect address may land you in jail
Border force faces smuggling challenge
US wants early implementation
Ronen to appear before panel today
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Consensual sex with minor girl no defence against rape: SC
New Delhi, October 28 In such a case only the charge of rape would be slapped on a person even if it was consensual sex by the minor girl with him, a Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and P. Sathasivam ruled. Since the consensual sex with a girl below the age of 16 years is considered a rape as per the definition of Section 375 of the IPC, the person who got the minor procured for himself would certainly be liable to be convicted for the same offence but not for procuring the girl under Section 366-A simultaneously, the court held. The basic difference between the two offences - procurement of a minor girl under Section 366-A and rape under Section 375 - was that under the former even alluring a girl below 18 years was covered while under the latter sex with consent with a girl below 16 years was always a rape, the court clarified. Because of these lacunae in the law, there is a strong demand from various quarters, particularly the National Commission for Women and several NGOs working for the empowerment of women, for amendment to Section 375 to raise the age 16 of minor under its definition for consensual sex. Their demand is mainly based on the argument that the newly passed Marrige Act, notified by the Centre earlier this year, had recognised 18 years of age as the legal age for a woman even for sexual relation in the wedlock. The apex court ruling came in a case where a minor girl was allured by accused Iqbal in Kerala to accompany him from Thrissur to Coimbatore and he eventually had a sexual relation with her, which he said was consensual. The trial court had convicted him for both the offences - under Section 366-A, procuring a minor girl and Section 375 rape - but the apex court said once the person was charged with rape of a minor then the other section would not be applied. Section 366-A would apply only if a person had procured a girl below 18 years of age for some other person not for himself. Since the apex court found that the girl had willingly accompanied Iqbal and even if she had consensual sex with him, it was a rape as she was only 14 years of age. While laying down the guidelines for the trial court on differentiating between the provisions of the two sections, the apex court upheld his sentence of three years for rape but acquitted him of additional two years of imprisonment for procuring the minor girl.
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No insurance for illegal travellers on goods vehicles
New Delhi, October 28 Since the vehicles like lorries were meant only to carry goods, using them for travelling by people unauthorisedly would not entail any right of third party insurance cover for such travellers, a Bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and H.S. Bedi ruled while allowing the appeal of the National Insurance Company. The court said in case of goods-carrying vehicles, the insurance cover would not go beyond the owner of the goods accompanying them in a lorry or any other such goods-ferrying vehicle, besides the driver and helper. The case arose from an insurance claim by kin of some passengers, who died in a truck accident while travelling in it illegally in Andhra Pradesh. The trial court had awarded them compensation under the third party insurance cover on the grounds that they had paid Rs 20 each to the lorry driver, which was upheld by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Reversing their ruling based on a slew of previous judgments on the identical question, the apex court clarified that under Section 147 of the Motor Vehicle Act, it has been clearly laid down that the insurance cover would extend to only the public service vehicles used for transporting passengers. It certainly would not extend to the persons travelling illegally by the goods transport vehicles, the court said. The term owner of goods as stipulated in the Motor Vehicle Act would only mean the person who is the real owner of the goods being transported and is sitting in the cabin behind or besides the driver, the court said, allowing the appeal of the insurance company.
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Lalu kickstarts campaign to oust Nitish
Patna, October 28 They had come here to attend the ‘Chetawani (warning) Rally’ by the RJD against the ruling Nitish government in order to expose its alleged failures in almost all fronts of governance. Addressing the mammoth rally at the historic Gandhi Maidan here, Lalu virtually kick-started the campaign for the ouster of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "This government is incompetent to address the people’s aspirations for development. The people are now fed up with the ruling NDA’s empty promises as it failed to live up to their expectations even after ruling the state for two years," he said. Interestingly, Lalu Prasad today chose to confine his attack more to the "development" agenda than his favourite "social churning". The only social churning by him during his near-hour-long speech, in sharp contrast to his earlier Muslim-Yadav equation, was related to his demand for reservations for the poorer sections of the upper castes. Besides, he demanded the arrest of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi under Section 302 of the IPC following the recent Tehelka expose. Later talking to the media after the rally, Lalu described the impressive turnout as a record-breaking compared to all rallies that he had organised in the past. While Lalu was desperate to show his clout to both friends and foes alike, the fact that this was the first time that Indian Railways, the biggest public sector unit, was by his side did not go unnoticed. The Railways added extra muscle to Lalu’s effort for an impressive turnout, obviously against a fair price, by ferrying RJD supporters and workers from every nook and corner of the state and also from neighbouring Jharkhand since yesterday. RJD leaders went all out booking a record 35 special trains for three days between October 27 and 29 in their bid to make the turnout an impressive show. Three platforms in Patna junction since yesterday were exclusively used for the arrival and departures of special trains booked by the RJD. The East Central railway (ECR) put up about 10 ‘May I help you’ kiosks to assist RJD workers coming from far flung areas, a facility hardly available to thousands of bonafide passengers who travel by rail every day. Railway officials were also seen moving with high frequency walkie-talkie sets to keep in touch with emergency control rooms. The Railways, reportedly, even bent the rules, shunting 57 express trains including the Rajdhani Express to other platforms so that the trains carrying party supporters could arrive smoothly. While Lalu’s opponents, including Nitish Kumar, accused him of misusing railway resources, the RJD supremo said, “Our district units have booked these trains by paying the highest cost and are contributing to the profit of the Railways." JD(U)’s ruling partner BJP in a letter written by its legislator Rameshwar Prasad to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday demanded immediate sacking of Lalu Prasad for misusing the Railways. “Lalu has set a wrong trend in politics. Earlier, he used to misuse the state government’s machinery for his rallies. Now, he is misusing the Railways", he alleged.
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Sharp rise in ministry clearance to
New Delhi, October 28 The Home Ministry has cleared personal security cover to nearly 400 VIPs during the past three years, which is up from 250 protected persons, sources said. The sources said that the security cover was not confined only to politicians and top officials, but to some journalists also, particularly from vernacular press, who faced threat. After the UPA government came to power, the security cover to nearly 150 persons had been cleared by the Home Ministry under Shivraj Patil, the sources said, pointing out that in several cases the security cover was extended to persons whose claim of threat perception was based on “bogus” and “fabricated” facts. The Home Ministry from time to time reviews the demand of security on the threat perception to a particular person. The Delhi High Court had termed the use of security as “status symbol” by politicians these days, which was taxing heavily on the state exchequer, besides becoming a nuisance to the general public. It had said that while siren-blaring vehicles giving protection to a VIP zoom the roads, common man was not even allowed to stand on the pavements and was often harassed by the policemen if ever he chanced to pass through a VIP route. Though there was a protocol for providing the security and use of vehicle with red and blue lights, it was rarely being followed, the High Court had said, taking serious view of the gun-toting security personnel virtually pushing aside the common citizens coming in their way. The High Court observation reminded an earlier incident of a few years ago, when it had taken a suo motu note of the police thrashing a city-based executive Martin Massy for innocently coming in the way of the then Prime Minister
I.K. Gujaral’s security route.
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No one happy with Coimbatore blasts case judgement
Coimbatore, October 28 Despite 43 convicts being given life sentence and 37 varying degrees of jail terms ranging from 13 years to seven years, all feel justice has been denied though from different angles. The prosecution which wanted death penalty for the 70 convicts who carried out a series of blasts on May 14, 1998 killing 58 persons and injuring more than 250 while property worth crores of rupees was destroyed feel they were let off lightly. Said T.
Balasundaram, special public prosecutor, said, “Such grave offences ought to have merited capital punishment. Now we don’t even know as to why varying sentences were given and how to deal with the case when they go for an appeal.” The defence lawyers feel the sentences would not stand the test of law at the higher court as many were convicted on the basis of the testimony of the approver
Riaz-ur-Rehman. “We will certainly go for an appeal and hope to get justice for our innocent clients from the higher court,” said a defence counsel. Close relatives of those sentenced too felt the judgement was too harsh particularly in the backdrop of justice being delayed in cases involving Hindu outfits of the “Sangh Parivar” and those involved in communal riots in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.
Basha’s wife, Rasheeda Begum said, “My husband has spent nearly 20 years in prison. He has been detained under the NSA four times, booked under TADA three times and has now spent nearly nine years in this case. Most of the cases against him are false. Our children’s upbringing and education has been severely affected by these cases.” A local activist Abu Tahir felt that those at the helm of affairs should objectively consider the socio-economic impact of these cases against the families of the accused and said, “This is mainly a punishment for the families, not the convicts themselves, as they have to spend long years calling on the suspects in jail and attending court proceedings.” But for young men like Ashok, who father died in one of the serial blasts and because of which he could not complete his schooling as he was only in class eight then, the sentence “was a mere eye wash”. “My Muslims friends with whom I celebrated Id also felt the same. The judgement will not harm our relationship at all,” he said. However, former BJP state president C. P. Radhakrishnan, who is a resident of this city, was not surprised that death sentences were not awarded. He felt it was on line with the ruling party’s soft pedalling with extremism. “What else can you expect from rulers who have not even carried out the death sentences on the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi?” he asked. Arjun Sampath of Hindu Makkal Katchi was more critical as he felt the court should have been more stringent and awarded death penalty to the main conspirators. He said, “The affected people of Coimbatore feel that complete justice had not been done to them. More than 50 were killed, nearly 450 persons were wounded and losses to the tune of Rs. 5,000 crore had been incurred. The court’s imposition of mere life terms is not stringent enough. The prosecution should appeal for enhancement of the sentence.” The only difference is that though extremist elements are still lurking and seething with anger, the wounds inflicted nine years ago seem to have healed and both Muslims and Hindus have buried their hatchets and carrying on business as they did before the serial explosion reverberated through this city.
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Conference on sexual health begins today
Hyderabad, October 28 Over 1,300 people involved in understanding sexual health needs and problems of the Asia Pacific will be participating in what is billed as the largest conference on the subject in the region. Ten parliamentarians who have come together from countries of the region under the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development will also participate in the conference. "New Frontiers in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights" is the theme for the conference, as this region does not recognise the rights of the people with different sexual preferences, said Dr Sunil Mehra, co-chair, Indian Organising Committee. He said there will be a special focus on youth and their sexual rights and needs. Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss will inaugurate the conference, while Renuka Chowdary, minister of state, women and child, will speak on "Implementing sexual and reproductive rights: an unfinished agenda", which is the subject of discussion in the first plenary. Dr Saroj Pachauri, chair of the scientific committee, pointed out that services in most countries of the region are provided through vertical systems, which need to be integrated with primary care services of a country. Studies in the region indicate that affordable, accessible gender-sensitive sexual health and reproductive health care continues to be a huge challenge, said Saira Shameen, executive director, Asian-Pacific Research and Resource Centre for Women. There will also be discussions on the impact of Catholic, Hindu and Islamic fundamentalism on women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. One of the features of the conference is a cultural evening on October 30 to bring attention to the missing girls of the region. Musical videos of singer Rabbi Shergill and Suneeta Rao will be released on the occasion.
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ULFA puts up brave front on ‘surrender dramas’
Guwahati, October 28 In a statement e-mailed to media here, the rebel group’s publicity secretary, major Raju Baruah said, “Such surrender dramas enacted by security forces to bring into mainstream a handful of ULFA cadres who have either failed to withstand the rigours of the life at the critical juncture of revolution or been bought by security forces, will not able to destroy its revolution. Such surrender dramas will stymie the efforts to find a permanent solution to the Assam-India conflict.”
He further stated that the ULFA had withstood similar episodes of surrenders of its cadres during the tenure of erstwhile Congress chief minister Hiteswar Saikia in early 1990s and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government headed by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta during 1996-2001. “Even the infamous ‘secret killings’ of ULFA supporters, family members of ULFA cadres carried out by the police and the Army with help of a section of surrendered members of the outfit during the Mahanta’s regime had failed to force ULFA off its path of revolution and only paved the way for Mahanta’s ouster from power and his political and social isolation. “The present government after failing to neutralise the ULFA has also resorted to the old tactics of enacting surrender dramas to pat its own back,” the rebel spokesman said. The rebel group also accused the “India security forces” of conspiring to malign its image by branding it as an agent of fundamentalist foreign forces and foreign agencies inimical to India. It stated that it was neither working in tandem with any foreign forces and intelligence agencies nor has anything to do with fundamentalist forces. Refuting allegations levelled by security forces, the ULFA stated that it had never recruited any underage boy or girl in its ranks, as its “constitution” doesn’t allow the recruitment of boys and girls aged below 18. The Army and police, of late, have been maintaining that the ULFA has suffered major reverses in the wake of arrests, killings and surrender of several of its senior leaders, including two battalion commanders namely Prabal Neog and Pallab Saikia who are now in judicial custody. The security forces termed the surrender of 31 ULFA cadres last week at the Tamulpur Army base in Baksa district of Assam a major blow to the outfit. Assam police chief R.N. Mathur said more ULFA cadres had sent feelers to give up arms.
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Gujarat scars not easy to heal: NMC chief
New Delhi, October 28 He said the scars left on the state by the post-Godhra riots were not easy to heal and would take a long time. “Healing has to be visible on the ground,” Qureshi, a former Union minister, who took over as the NMC chief recently said. There was a need to change the mindset about the minorities in the country. “It takes a second to destroy the confidence, but it takes years to build it,” he said. The Commission would certainly raise the issue of minorities with the state government but before doing so, it would have a first-hand knowledge of the real problems being faced by them, he said. Qureshi, who hails from Kashmir valley, where Muslims were in fact a majority community, said that the common complaint of minorities was that the welfare schemes meant for them were not properly implemented. In this context, he referred to Justice Sachar committee report on the condition of minorities and Justice Srikrishna Commission report on the Mumbai riots on which the progress of the follow-up action was very slow. The minorities did not want a special treatment but what they wanted was “equal treatment” as any other citizen of the country, he asserted.
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‘SP not to give in to Cong blackmail’
Lucknow, October 28 Addressing the media at the party headquarters, Amar Singh alleged that the CBI probe into the disproportionate assets case against Yadav was hanging like the proverbial sword of Damocles as the party had refused to toe the Congress line of ‘nuclear fundamentalism, nuclear blackmail and nuclear surrender’. Describing the CBI as the ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’, Amar Singh charged the Congress with blatantly misusing it to settle political scores. Illustrating his point, Amar Singh said both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mayawati had been given a clean chit due to political exigencies but Mulayam Singh continued to face the heat. Without naming any specific leader, he said his party had received a specific proposal from the Congress to sever ties with the Left parties and support the Congress on the nuclear deal in return for withdrawing charges against Mulayam Singh
Yadav. “We would prefer to go to jail than sell the nation to the USA,” declared Amar Singh. In his typical smart Alec style, he said while the BJP had the “feel good” obsession the Congress had a ‘deal good
programme”. His party, however, had nothing to with either the BJP’s feel good or the Congress’ deal good programme, he quipped. Using the Tehelka-Aaj Tak expose as yet another ammunition to hit out at the Congress, Amar Singh said the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation owed the nation an apology for declaring Narendra Modi’s Gujarat as the best governed state in the country. Going a step further he wondered why the Congress appreciated those who shed the blood of Muslims, be it George Bush who had unleashed a genocide in Afghanistan and Iraq or Narendra Modi, who had masterminded the worst sort of campaign against Muslims in Gujarat.
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Rizwanur, Priyanka were asked to 'convert'
Kolkata, October 28 Rizwanur was given the proposal to convert to Hinduism by his industrialist father-in-law Ashok Todi and two other senior members of his wife's family on the night of August 31 after the couple returned to his home, his elder brother Rukbanur told PTI today. When asked about Rizwanur's response to the proposal by Todi, his brother Pradip and relative Anil Saraogi who visited Rehman's home that night, he said the computer graphics teacher did not respond to it. The couple had registered their marriage under Special Marriages Act on August 18 and returned to Rizwanur's Tiljala home here on August 31 night. About four days later, Priyanka was approached by Rizwanur's family members and neighbours to persuade her to convert to Islam. To which, she had said that the couple would take a decision in this regard after her family's opposition to their marriage settled down, Rukbanur said. The mysterious death of Rizwanur - whose body was found on railway tracks near Dum Dum railway station here far from his home on September 21 - is now being probed by the CBI following
orders by the Calcutta High Court. — PTI
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15 killed in rain-hit TN
Chennai, October 28 Seven persons, including four children, were killed in Kumbakonam district when a row of houses collapsed, the police said. One person was electrocuted in Chennai when he came in contact with a snapped live wire. A 50-year-old woman was killed in floods in Cumbam in Theni district. Reports of six other deaths came from various places across the state, the police said. The state government announced a holiday for educational institutions tomorrow when as the Regional Met Department forecast isolated heavy rainfall across the state, Kerala, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh in the next 48 hours. Most parts of Tamil Nadu received heavy rainfall since yesterday with Thiruvidaimaruthur in Tanjavur district receiving 16cm, followed by Usilampatti (Madurai district) 12cm, Kumbakonam and Kudavasal
(Tanjavur district) 11cm till noon today. According to Met officials, the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a depression and has centred south-east of Chennai. It was expected to move in a west, north-westerly direction and cross Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh between Puducherry and
Kavali, near Nellore in AP, tomorrow evening. — PTI
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NBCC handing over land to Bangladesh: AGP
Guwahati, October
28 AGP general secretaries Hitendranath Goswami, Dilip Kumar Saikia and Birendra Prasad
Baishya, former union minister, demanded immediate intervention of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the Union Home Ministry to instruct the NBCC to rectify the alignment of the border fencing protecting Indian territory without any delay. “The Prime Minister should give as much importance to the country’s border in the eastern sector as it does to the India-Pakistan border and come for an on-the-spot study of construction of road and fencing along the border with Bangladesh,” the AGP leaders demanded. The AGP leaders showed two protest letters issued by the deputy commissioners of Dhubri and Karimganj districts to draw the attention of the government to the ‘faux pas’ committed by the NBCC in leaving out a huge stretch of Indian land while putting up the fencing and laying the road along the international border. “The Bangladesh government, which has been eyeing fertile land of Assam along the border areas will be too happy to stake claim over India’s land because of the mistake made by the NBCC. The error in construction of the fencing must be rectified sans further delay in the interest of territorial integrity of the country,” the AGP leader said. The opposition party lambasted the Congress government in Assam of ignoring the issue despite being alerted long ago by the deputy commissioners of Dhubri and Karimganj districts.
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Advani predicts mid-term poll
Lucknow, October 28 Substantiating his
point, Advani said that the BSP had played up this yearning for stability amongst the people disillusioned with the Samajwadi Party rule to project itself as the only party capable of providing a stable government for a full term. Addressing the concluding session of the two-day state
executive, he declared that the BJP had great expectations from Uttar Pradesh during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Asking the participants if they were prepared for the poll, he, however, mildly pulled them up, saying it was not enough to say “yes”. “ All the time, I keep hearing news of faction fights. This has to stop”, Advani advised the UP unit calling upon them to put the party interest above their own. Clarifying the BJP’s stand on the nuclear deal, Advani went to great lengths tracing the 45- year-old history of the Jan Sangh and the then BJP’s demand for nuclear deterrence to enhance national security. Reiterating his view about Dr Manmohan Singh being the weakest Prime Minister since Independence, Advani said his main grudge against Singh was that he had changed the most important address in New Delhi from 7 Race Course Road to 10
Janpath.
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RTI Act does not extend to personal details: CIC
New Delhi, October 28 This was stated by the CIC in a recent decision when an advocate had sought information about the marital status of a woman along with the details of her appointment in the shipping ministry. The commission has to be extremely guarded about any “intrusion” into the personal life of a person as the question of his or her liberty and fundamental right was involved. Advocate S.D.Kathuria had sought details from the ministry of shipping about a woman stenographer in January, including her marital status, in a case where her appointment in the directorate-general of lighthouse and lightships was under challenge. The CIC said an information which “manifestly was personal” in nature could not be parted with to a third person in a dispute between two litigating parties in a case and such information would not be covered under the RTI Act. Such information could not be termed as in the public interest, the CIC while rejecting the application of
Kathuria.
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Realignment opportunistic: Left
New Delhi, October 28 “This is a classic case of rank opportunism of JD (S) leadership and unprincipled lust for power of the BJP who have betrayed the aspirations of the people of Karnataka,” CPM Politburo in a statement said, while demanding dissolution of Vidhan Sabha and holding of fresh elections in the state. The CPM said once the JD (S) and BJP had drifted apart to a point of no return and had bitterly attacked each other. The statement mentioned that the realignment would not serve any purpose. “The only sensible way to uphold the democracy in the state will be holding of fresh elections,” it said. CPI also sharply critcised the JD (S) saying despite it’s claim of being a “secular party” it was helping the BJP get a foothold in the South. “The attempt to install BJP-led government in Karnataka with the help of JD (S) is a serious and unfortunate development,” the CPI said alleging that it would lead to an increase in communal tension in Karnataka.
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Train Travel Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 28 A Northern Railway official said the Railways had now started verifying addresses given on reservation requisition forms, and in case the address given in the form was found to be incorrect or incomplete, the authorities had the right to cancel the berth or seat allotted to the passenger. In case of doubt over the address, the passenger would also be asked to produce the proof, failing which he or she might be liable for punishment with imprisonment up to three months and a fine up to Rs 500. Such passengers would be treated as travelling on transferred ticket and would be punished. Between April to September, 111 cases of travelling on transferred tickets were detected and those found guilty were punished, the official added.
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Border force faces smuggling challenge
Guwahati, October 28 Talking to mediapersons here, Sharma said, “Mainly drugs and forest products are smuggled along the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam. The SSB is trying its best to contain that.”
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N-Deal
Kolkata, October 28 Asked about the Left’s opposition to the deal, he said “we respect India’s democratic process and we hope India will decide to implement the agreement as soon as possible.” He said he had discussed the nuke deal with the Chief Minister and “we remain committed to the deal.” Describing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as a “great economic reformer,” Paulson said he would discuss investment opportunities with him. — PTI
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Ronen to appear before panel today
New Delhi, October 28 Sen, who had later clarified that his comments were not aimed at MPs, has already arrived here and is expected to be questioned extensively by the committee constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee under V. Kishorechandra Deo.
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Patna, October 28
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