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No one wants to own up Raju now
Rajasthan wants to man Sirhind feeder
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Army dismisses reports of Pak build-up
SC to decide whether govt is a service provider
Bomb Threat
26/11 witness goes missing
Engineer’s Lynching
Uphaar Tragedy
NIA Chief
Suspected B’deshi terrorist held
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No one wants to own up Raju now
Hyderabad, January 13 The Satyam fiasco has provided ammunition for the opposition parties to target Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy while the ruling party was quick to point out that it was the previous TDP government which went out of the way to project Raju as the face of IT industry. The opposition parties, TDP, CPI, CPI (M), TRS and BJP, alleged that the government had shown “undue favours” to Maytas Infra, an infrastructure and construction company owned by Raju’s family members, and awarded a string of projects without following transparent procedures. “We demand that the government publish a white paper on the projects handed over to Maytas and place all the relevant agreements before an all-party meeting to enable the opposition parties to examine them,” the TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu said. However, Naidu is also under attack from the ruling party for his close links with Raju who was the only industrialist to share the dais with the then US President Bill Clinton during his visit to the city in March 2000. The Congress leaders also alleged that Naidu had used his clout with NDA government to “cover-up” a probe by Income Tax officials into the allegations of irregularities in Satyam and the benami accounts of Raju in 2002. The TDP, however, challenged the government for an open debate on the allegations and counter-allegations. “It is very clear that Congress bigwigs got huge kickbacks in the projects awarded to Maytas Infra. The fact that Raju had confessed to inflating Satyam’s account books to the tune of over Rs 7,000 crore shows that he enjoys patronage at the highest level in the government,” the TDP leader N Janardhan Reddy said. The state BJP chief B Dattatreya demanded a CBI probe into the Satyam scandal and also the projects awarded to Raju’s family firms while the actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi demanded confiscation of properties of Raju’s family members. “The government should come clean on the matter by placing all documents pertaining to Maytas projects before the opposition leaders,” the state CPI Secretary K Narayana said. The state CPI (M) secretary B V Raghavulu went a step further, alleging that the Satyam fraud had taken place with active connivance of the ruling party bosses. The government had awarded several high-profile projects to Maytas Infra, covering infrastructure and irrigation sectors. They include the Rs 12,200 crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project, the Rs 1,500 crore deep water port at Machilipatnam and irrigation works worth Rs.1,600 crore. “It must be remembered that all these are all joint venture agreements involving consortia in which Maytas is only a partner. Even if one partner fails, others will be jointly responsible. There is no problem in continuing the ongoing works but we will review the new projects,” the Chief Minister said. |
Rajasthan wants to man Sirhind feeder
Jaipur, January 13 The state government accused Punjab and Haryana government of using 150-200 cusecs of water that "flows back" into their canals due to technical faults. The water is accounted for in the state’s share but is being used by the farmers of these two states. The state wants Punjab government to help in plugging the 'flowing back' of water by allowing construction of two regulators, one in Punjab and another in Haryana. Accusing Punjab of not giving the assured water supply through the Sirhind feeder canal and the Bhakhra main branch via Haryana and ignoring massive theft of water, the state government wants its own staff to keep an eye on the flow at zero head (Sirhind feeder canal tail) so that it gets the promised quantity. Irrigation minister Mahipal Maderna took up the matter with Punjab government after Congress MLA Param Navdeep Singh from Sangria constituency in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, furnished the report of a survey done by her team at a meeting held here recently. She said Punjab often stopped the flow in Sirhind feeder. "Water coming from Indira Gandhi feeder through the link canal flows back in Punjab in the absence of any regulating structure. Punjabi farmers pump out this water which on papers is accounted for in Rajasthan’s share but is being used by Punjab," she said. Similar situation prevails in the link between the Bhakhra main branch in Haryana and the Maharaj Karni Singh branch in Rajasthan. Navdeep said keys of the gates at the zero head have remained with Punjab ever since the canals were constructed. "We want Rajasthan state employees to have access to the keys so that they can ensure proper regulation of the water flow," she added. |
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Army dismisses reports of Pak build-up
New Delhi, January 13 It also claimed that the infiltration from across the border with Pakistan had gone down every year since 2005. “It only seems like routine movements and exercise-related relocation of troops by Pakistan and not a build-up, but we are always ready for any situation,” Army’s western commander Lt-Gen T K Sapru told reporters here after an investiture parade. He said infiltration from across the border had gone down since 2005-06 when he was a corps commander in Jammu and Kashmir. Sapru had, before becoming an Army commander, headed the Nagrota-based 16 corps posted near Jammu. Infiltration has in the last two or three years come down considerably. Perhaps, after 2005-06, it has come down from 400 to 20/30 in a year, he said. Earlier, Sapru presented gallantry medals, decorations and service medals to about 50 Army officers at the investiture ceremony after reviewing the parade in which the Army exhibited its might with T-90 tanks, Brahmos cruise missiles, OSA-AK air defence guns and a march past by special forces and troops. |
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SC to decide whether govt is a service provider
New Delhi, January 13 A bench, comprising Justices RV Raveendran and Markandey Katju, said it would also decide whether the government could come under the service-provider category so that it could be taken to consumer courts for any deficiency in service. They made the clarifications during the hearing of a case where the Chandigarh administration had challenged the National Consumer Redressal Commission’s order asking the union territory authorities to waive the penal interest slapped on those who had bought plots in the 1996-99 auctions for delay in the payment of installments. The administration has questioned the jurisdiction of the commission in entertaining the complaints of the plot holders who had refused to pay the installments due to the absence of civic amenities. The arguments by administration’s counsel Kamini Jaiswal and the plot owners’ advocate PS Patwalia remained inconclusive today and the bench asked them to come fully prepared on Wednesday to clarify their respective position on the question of obligations, under the statute as well as rules, besides under the auction. There have been several apex court rulings in cases involving Lucknow Development Authority, Ghaziabad Development Authority and other such bodies to categorise them as service providers but no example could be cited by the advocates to show the government could also be put in the same bracket. |
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TN airports on high alert
N Ravikumar Tribune News Service
Chennai, January 13 The call was made to the DIG's office, Coimbatore, and was purportedly from an anonymous person from London. Immediately, the Airports Authority of India was informed, who, in turn, alerted the airport police. Following this, the bomb disposal squad conducted a thorough search operation in all the three airports-Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Madurai. Passengers were being frisked and their luggage was also being checked before they were allowed to board their flights. Sniffer dogs were also used for conducting searches. DIG Sivanandi has claimed that it was a hoax call. An anonymous caller from London had called up the Muthialpet and Marina police stations last week and warned of a suicide bomb attack during the visit of the President and the Prime Minister to the city. Meanwhile, security has been upgraded in and around the city with the deployment of over 5,000 policemen as part of the elaborate arrangements on the eve of Kannum Pongal being celebrated on Friday to mark the culmination of the three-day Pongal festivity in the state. |
Shift case to Lucknow, family urges CM
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, January 13 In a letter to the CM, the family said it did not want to draw any political mileage out of the case. “Bringing the guilty to book is our only aim,” the letter added. Expressing her satisfaction over the manner in which the investigation into the case was progressing, Shashi, who was accompanied by her son, said she was not interested in pressing for a CBI probe into the matter. |
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Ansals file appeal against conviction
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, January 13 A bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan posted the matter for hearing on January 23 after senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, appearing for them, said his clients had already served almost half of their sentence of one year and they were entitled to bail, pending disposal of their appeal. In a bid to strengthen his case, Jethmalani said the government did not oppose bail to film star Sanjay Dutt who had been sentenced to five years in a TADA case. |
JK vigilance head front-runner
New Delhi, January 13 A 1975-batch IPS officer, Raju (59), who heads the Vigilance Department in the militancy-hit state is believed to have been short-listed for the coveted post in view of his knowledge of investigating high-profile cases, including assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. — PTI |
Suspected B’deshi terrorist held
Malda (WB), January 13 Safiqul Alam (30), hailing from Bangladesh's Rajsahi district, was allegedly involved in smuggling RDX and bringing in terrorists from the neighbouring country, the police said. Alam had been living in a house owned by Akhtar Haji, an ex-Army jawan, for some time at the village under Harishchandrapur police station, close to Bihar.
— PTI |
Proposed curbs on TV channels resented New Delhi, January 13 |
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HCC to build Guj township
Mumbai, January 13 |
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