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HC dissatisfied with NEW DELHI, Mar 16: The Delhi High Court today asked three Hinduja brothers to file detailed.....more
World
taken over by NEW DELHI, Mar 16: President K R Narayanan today said the world was being taken over by material....more Maha
Assembly adjourned MUMBAI, Mar 16: High drama continued to dominate proceedings of the Maharashtra Assembly.....more
Alternative
Govt at Centre NEW DELHI, Mar 16: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today said an alternative....more |
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ISRO spy case NEW DELHI, Mar 16: In a landmark judgement, the National Human Rights Commission has directed the Kerala Government to pay Rs 10 lakh as immediate interim relief to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) senior scientist S Nambinarayanan, who was falsely implicated in an espionage case and detained and tortured in police custody in 1994. Upholding Mr Nambinarayanan’s complaint of gross violation of human rights......more RSS
says expose appears NEW DELHI, Mar 16: RSS today said the expose of corruption in defence deals by tehelka.Com appeared to be true and demanded a thorough probe into it and punishment to the guilty.....more Former
Minister THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Mar 16: Former minister and Kerala Congress leader R Balakrishna Pillai, convicted in a corruption case, surrendered before the special vigilance court here today.....more TDP
demands thorough NEW DELHI, Mar 16: The Telegu Desam Party (TDP), whose support is crucial for the survival of the National Democratic Alliance Government, today pushed its demand for a thorough probe into the defence deal expose. TDP leader in the Lok Sabha K Yerrannaidu reiterated his party’s demand for the probe but added the guilty should not be spared .....more |
HC dissatisfied with Hindujas’ response on Bofors money NEW DELHI, Mar 16: The Delhi High Court today asked three Hinduja brothers to file detailed affidavits on the current value of 80.79 million Swedish Kroners (SKR) which they received from AB Bofors between May and December 1986. Justice S K Agarwal said the certificate provided by Ernst and Young, one of the top five chartered accountancy firms in the world, does not contain information he had asked for on March 9. Mr S P Hinduja, P P Hinduja and G P Hinduja were asked to file details of Swiss Bank accounts in which they deposited money received from the Swedish company Bofors as well as their individual assets and investments made in India. Their counsel Kapil Sibal told the court that the no part of the money has been siphoned off or diluted but invested in various businesses. "The businesses have not suffered losses but it is not possible at present to re-evaluate the assets and calculate their current market value." Mr Sibal also said the Hindujas have no moveable or immoveable assets in India. However, he gave a detailed annexure listing their business interests and investments. Meanwhile, the court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to approach the trial court and state whether it is willing for a separate proceedings against the accused who are before the court. CBI counsel N Natarajan said the trial court should proceed against the Hindujas, former Bofors agent in India Win Chadha and former Defence Secretary S K Bhatnagar in the interests of speedy justice. The CBI has already launched extradition proceedings against Ottavio Quattrocchi. Those against Martin Ardbo — another named in the chargesheet — have not been initiated. The court fixed March 23 for the next hearing. Documents filed by the Hindujas before High Court said that on May 22, 1986 a total of 11.77 million SKR was deposited at credit Swiss Bank in Geneva under the account code-named Mont Blanc, 13.45 million SKR was deposited at manufacturers Hanover Trust under the account Lotus and 8.41 million SKR was debited at Swiss Banking Corporation under the account Tulip. That totalled 33.64 million SKR. On July 1, 1986 a total of 8.41 million SKR was transferred by Bofors in Lotus account and the same amount in Tulip Account. A week later, 12.61 million SKR was debited in each of the two accounts. On December 18, 1986 a total of 2.55 million SKR was deposited in Lotus and the same amount in Tulip account. Alongwith an interest of 1.2 million SKR the balance in three accounts now totals 82.04 million SKR or 11.84 million dollars. The papers prepared by Mr Michel Broch and Mr Pascal Gisiger of Atag Ernst and Young were in reference to instructions of Hindujas’ lawyer Paul Gully Hart of Schellenberg Wittmer Company on August 18 last year. The Hindujas gave the details while appearing before Swiss Investigating Magistrate Paul Perraudin on September 27, 2000. The Swiss judiciary had starting investigation after receiving a letter rogatory issued by the CBI. The certificate by Atag Ernst and Young said it was shown copies of cancelled bank account opening forms from manufacturers Hanover Trust in the names of Mr Srichand Hinduja and Mr Gopichand Hinduja designated as 229 Arab. This account was opened on May 27, 1986 and cancelled next month on June 16. "We have not found any elements which lead us to believe that this account received any deposits nor that it was used before being cancelled. This has also been confirmed to us by the account signatories. A new account designated 229 Arab/Tulip was opened on behalf of McIntyre Corporation on May 30, 1986. Our verification work has been based on the amounts received on this account." The Europe-based billionaire brothers have been barred by a lower court order from leaving India until their trial is complete. They are seeking permission to go abroad for carrying out their global businesses. The Hindujas have, in the past, admitted ownership of McIntyre Corporation and the fact that nine payments were made by Bofors into the code-named accounts. Their differences have narrowed down to the question of whether these payments were related to fix the Rs 1,437 crore-deal for 155 mm howitzer guns in 1986, which they continue to strongly deny. (UNI) |
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World taken over by human greed, materialism: Narayanan NEW DELHI, Mar 16: President K R Narayanan today said the world was being taken over by material greed and expressed hope that this menace would be overcome by adherence to Gandhian principles. Presenting the Gandhi Peace Prize, 2000 to South African leader Nelson Mandela, Narayanan said "materialism and human greed has taken over the world. In this atmosphere, the Gandhi Peace Prize (awardees) stands as a beacon of light." Eulogising Mandela as "Gandhian of our times", he said the South African leader adopted the Gandhian principle in reconciling the nation after the victory against apartheid and leading it "out of bitterness of the past". Stating that Mahatma Gandhi was "born in India but made in South Africa", Narayanan said he was the "greatest gift South Africa has given to India". He said while Mandela had abolished apartheid, the Grameen Bank "abolished financial apartheid" in Bangladesh by aiming to free micro-credit from the "bondage of collateral" and empowering the poorest of the poor. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee welcomed Mandela as "a hero of our times" and said he was a crusader of the ideals of Gandhi who led India’s powerful struggle against the mightiest world empire of those times. On receipt of the award, Mandela said India, which was "a home away from home" for him, had taught several lessons on democracy, development and tolerance to "our fledgling democracy which is in the infant stages". Stressing the need for fighting poverty and deprivation in the developing countries, Mandela said it was indeed a great effort as to how a developing nation like india could have maintained democratic traditions by holding regular elections. "India’s secular state is an example for us." On the global scene, the nobel laureate said while there was a developed world on one hand, there was "massive deprivation" in world affairs on the other. "We cannot escape globalisation in modern times, but there are trade barriers" which hampered the spread of the fruits of development. Speaking on the occasion, Grameen B D C Barua spoke of the financial support his organisation had provided to the rural poor and especially empowered women in terms of education and technology. The bank’s model, he said, had been adopted by several countries the world over. The Prime Minister had earlier said the bank had put into practice development banking at the grassroot level and changed the lives of the poor in Bangladesh. The jury for the Gandhi Peace Prize, which carries Rs ten million in cash, a citation and a plaque, comprises the Prime Minister, leader of the opposition, Chief Justice of India, besides former President R Venkataraman and A T Ariyaratne. The citation described Mandela as a "shining symbol of non-violent resistance to the anti-human practice of apartheid, suppression of democracy and denial of social justice in the true Gandhian spirit of fighting tyranny and discrimination". It said the Grameen Bank "inspired faith in humanity even in an environment of material greed, soulless careerism, exploitation and pursuit of naked power". (PTI) |
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Maha Assembly adjourned for 3rd consecutive day MUMBAI, Mar 16: High drama continued to dominate proceedings of the Maharashtra Assembly as the ruling Democratic Front members forced adjournment of both the upper and lower houses of the legislature for the third consecutive day today, in a fall out of defence scam. The Speaker of the State Assembly Arun Gujarati saw a repeat performance of both ruling and opposition members, whose acrimony forced him to adjourn the House in just two minutes without transacting any business. While treasury benches raised a crescendo over Prime Minister Vajpayee’s resignation in the wake of defence scam expose, opposition Shiv Sena-BJP members too assumed a seemingly aggressive posture, shouting slogans condemning the Congress-NCP coalition’s "failure" on all fronts, including law and order in the state. In the Upper House, State Legislative Council Chairman N S Pharande too had no option but to adjourn the day’s proceedings in just two minutes as ruling party and opposition members initiated a war of slogans, stormed into the well of the House and waved placards condemning each other. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena-BJP opposition today boycotted a meeting of Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the State Assembly, protesting the stalling of proceedings by ruling DF members in the Lower House for the third day. "The Government is not interested in transacting the business of the House and therefore we decided to boycott BAC meeting, convened to finalise the second week’s agenda of the session", Shiv Sena leader of opposition Narayan Rane told reporters. Rane also alleged that the Speaker Arun Gujarati was adopting a "partisan attitude" in not taking any action against the ruling party members and added "if he continued to do so, we will be compelled to bring a no-confidence motion against him". BJP group leader in the Assembly Gopinath Munde said the opposition would be moving a motion seeking suspension of ruling DF members for not allowing business of the house and creating ruckus on the issue of alleged defence scam. In a related development, Maharashtra Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rohidas Patil today hinted at the possibility of extending the current budget session by one more week to compensate for the lost business hours due to adjournments. (PTI) |
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Former Minister Pillai surrenders THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Mar 16: Former minister and Kerala Congress leader R Balakrishna Pillai, convicted in a corruption case, surrendered before the special vigilance court here today. Mr Pillai was immediately sent to the central jail. Mr Pillai is the first political leader in the state to be jailed on corruption charges. The prosecution case was that in pursuance of a conspiracy entered into by Mr Pillai, while serving as the Power Minister in the Congress-led Government in 1984-85, and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) Chairman Kesava Pillai, power was diverted to the Bangalore-based Graphite India Limited from October 1984 to may 1985 without the approval of the state cabinet. This action had caused undue pecuniary benefits to the company at a time when the state was facing power shortage. Mr Pillai’s surrender came nearly a fortnight after the Kerala High Court upheld the conviction and sentence of Mr Pillai by the Inquiry Commissioner and special judge, Thiruvananthapuram, Mr N K Balakrishnan, in the graphite case. The High Court had on March two confirmed the special judge order sentencing them to simple imprisonment for one year and pay a fine of Rs 10,000 each. Mr Kesava Pillai also surrenderd before the vigilance court along with the former minister and was sent to the central jail. The High Court had dismissed the appeals filed by the accused against the conviction and by the State Government for enhancement of the sentence. A division bench comprising Mr Justice P K Balasubramaniam and Mr Justice T M Hassan Pillai cancelled the bail bonds of the accused and ordered them to surrender before the special judge. Mr Pillai, who represent Kottarakkara in the State Assembly, is the lone member of Kerala Congress (B), a minor constituent of the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front. After the High Court verdict, Mr Pillai said he would contest the coming Assembly elections from the same constituency and seek the verdict in the people’s court. (UNI) |
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TDP demands thorough probe into defence deal expose NEW DELHI, Mar 16: The Telegu Desam Party (TDP), whose support is crucial for the survival of the National Democratic Alliance Government, today pushed its demand for a thorough probe into the defence deal expose. TDP leader in the Lok Sabha K Yerrannaidu reiterated his party’s demand for the probe but added the guilty should not be spared . In an aggressive tone, he said ‘the security of the country can not be comprised and thosewho dabble with sensitive areas should not be allowed to go scot free." When confronted by mediapersons he evaded direct reply on the resignations of George Fernandes as Defence Minister George Fernanades and the three Samata Party minister. The party meanwhile has asked the opposition to allow Parliament to function as Defence Minister George Fernandes had stepped down from his post paving way for a fair and objective probe. TDP parliamentary party spokesman C Ramachandraiah said his was always for an inquiry and punishment for the guilty. Mr Ramachandraiah said what the tapes revealed was ‘shameful’ and the probe would bring the guilty to book. Janata Dal (United), another NDA ally which had sought the resignation of George Fernandes welcomed the resignation which had created a conductive atmosphere for a fair and objective inquiry, party MP Dinish Chandra Yadav said. About the three Samata Party ministers insisting on resigning, Mr Yadav said it was an internal matter although the JD (U) wanted these ministers to ‘discharge their responsibilities. (UNI) |
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