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purchase scam Special Judge issues summons to 4 witnesses CHENNAI, Dec 3: Special Judge V Radhakrishnan today issued a summons to four witnesses to appear before the court on December 28 for examination in the Rs 10.16 crore colour TV sets purchase scam against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ...more .Centre will ensure no damage is done to shrine: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 3 : Home Minister L K Advani assured the Lok Sabha today that the Central and Karanataka Governments were determined to ensure that nothing was done to disturb the present character of the religious shrine near Chikmagalur. ......more Swadeshi
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Dikshit achieves another Leftists call Bihar bandh PATNA,
Dec 3: Seven Left Parties today gave a call for
Bihar bandh on December 11 to protest spiralling......more NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Lok Sabha today witnessed a flutter when Congress member Suryakanta more |
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Centre will ensure no damage is done to shrine: Advani NEW DELHI, Dec 3 : Home Minister L K Advani assured the Lok Sabha today that the Central and Karanataka Governments were determined to ensure that nothing was done to disturb the present character of the religious shrine near Chikmagalur. Making a statement in the house,Mr Advani described the shrine as a "unique example of Hindu Muslim unity and part of India’s secular heritage" and said the observance of Guru Dattatreya Jayanti started on December 1 and it passed off preacefully today". No untoward incident was reported so far. All precautionary measures, including deployment of State Reserve Platoons and the Central Police Force had been made. Two officials of the Union Home Ministry were deputed to the site to ensure that nothing was done to disturb communal harmony, he said. All assistance was offered by the Central Government to the Karnataka Government for this purpose,he added. Responding to queries by some opposition members, Mr Advani said the local Member of Parliament belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party was contacted. He had denied the adverse reports on his alleged involvement in any plan to disturb peace in the area, he added. Mr Advani said the shrine atop a hill, 30 km from Chikmagalur was under the control of the religious and charitable endowment department of the Karnataka Government. The Muslims visited the shrine throughout the year and they also celebrated urs at the site three days every year in the month of Rabi-ul-avval,the third month of the Islamic calendar. For the Hindus,this was the shrine of Guru Dattatreya and they called it Dattatreya Peetha,Mr Advani said an attempt was made some time ago to have it declared Waqf property. But the Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that the shrine did not belong to the Waqf Board. The matter had gone to the Court and the government expected all sides to honour its verdict, Mr Advani said. (UNI) |
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Swadeshi chief meets Sinha, to discuss over IRA Bill NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Pressure continues to mount on the Vajpayee Government not to go ahead with the introduction of the proposed Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill in the Lok Sabha. The Bill is expected to be introduced in the Lower House either on Monday or Tuesday. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has given a notice to Speaker G M C Balayogi to this effect. A delegation of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), led by its chief S Gurumurthy met Mr Sinha here today to impress upon him not to be in a hurry to get the Bill passed since there was "no need" for foreign investment in this sector. Later speaking to newsmen Mr Gurumurthy said the Government could wait till the year 2000 when negotiations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would be taken up on finance related issues as well. Since IRA involves multi-nationals, the question of opening up of the Insurance sector with foreign equity participation can be discussed at the WTO fora, the SJM argued. After the meeting the Finance Minister said that talks were on with all parties concerned. He appealed the SJM to call off its dharna, which started this morning in protest against the Government’s reported decision to allow foreign equity participation in Insurance sector. Mr Sinha hoped that the problem will be sorted out. (UNI) ISI has increased activities in Southern states: Fernandes NEW DELHI, Dec 3 : The Government admitted in the Lok Sabha today that the activities of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had increased in the Southern states. The Government admission came in Defence Minister George Fernandes’ reply to a written question by Mr K Yerrannaidu that "Government was aware of the increased activities of the ISI in the Southern states and appropriate remedial measures to counter these activities and the necessary steps to strengthen the coastal surveillance are being taken." Answering a question whether the officers of the Navy had expressed discontentment against the personnel policy of the Navy Mr Fernandes said "some statutory complaints have been received." he, however, said that the Government did not propose to conduct an inquiry into the whole affair but added that all appointment proposals received from Naval headquarters as well as statutory complaints were carefully examined by the Government and decisions taken in accordance with established norms and rules. Answering another question the Minister said the Indian Air Force had observed that there had been no appreciable change in number of violations of Indian air space by the Pakistan military aircraft. However there had been an increase in breaches of the bilateral agreement on prevention of air space violations by Pakistan, he said. The Minister said that between January and November 26 this year 75 incidents of breach of air agreement by Pakistani aircraft had been committed. Only five incidents of violation of Indian airspace by Pakistani aircraft had been recorded upto August this year. Answering a query on the missile programme Mr Fernandes said Prithvi, with 150 Km range, has been inducted into the Army development of air force version of Prithvi with 250 Km range has been completed and will be inducted into the air force. Work on Naval version of Prithvi is in progress. Trishul system is expected to enter into user trial phase for Army and Navy in first half of 1999. Development of Nag and Akash will be completed in 1999 after which it will enter the user trial phase. After completion of user trials these missiles will enter production/induction phase. Strategic review: Government propose to conduct a strategic defence review. This would be one of the priority tasks of the strategic policy group which is a part of the recently set up National Security Council. Procurement Planning Boards: The Government had already set up Army and Air Force procurement Planning and Revenue Procurement Boards to provide an appropriate forum to review and give macro level directions on processing procurement cases consistent with annual budgets and approved plane outlays. These boards would provide an institutionalised mechanism to review relative priorities and procurement status of projects and programmes with a view to an optimum utilisation of available resources. (UNI) TV sets purchase scam CHENNAI, Dec 3: Special Judge V Radhakrishnan today issued a summons to four witnesses to appear before the court on December 28 for examination in the Rs 10.16 crore colour TV sets purchase scam against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha and others. Mr Radhakrishnan, one of the three Special Judges trying cases of corruption during the previous AIADMK regime, gave the direction after rejecting submissions made by former Finance Minister V R Nedunchezhian and former IAS official H M Pandey, both among the eleven accused in the case. The case relates to irregularities in the purchase of 45,302 colour TV sets for local bodies in the state at an inflated price of Rs 14,500 each as against the market price of Rs 12,500. On Tuesday, the Judge had issued summons to two of the 70 witnesses in the pleasant stay hotel case to appear before him. Ms Jayalalitha is also among the accused in this case, relating to misuse of office to grant exemption from the hill area development rules for the construction of a seven-storeyed hotel in Kodaikanal, in 1994. The commencement of trial followed the Supreme Court rejecting Ms Jayalalitha’s plea on November 26 last, to stay the trial process till the court heard her Special Leave Petition, challenging the verdict of a division bench of Madras High Court, dismissing her writ petition questioning the appointment of the Special Judges by the State Government in April last year. Ms Jayalalitha and all other accused in the case should appear before the Special Judge during the examination of witnesses. The other accused in the colour TV scam case included, Ms Jayalalitha’s close associate Sasikala Natarajan, Ms Sasikala’s relative S R Baskaran, former local Administration Minister T M Selvaganapathy, former Chief Secretary N Haribhaskar, former IAS official H M Pandey and colour TV agents S Duraiswamy, M Sathyamurthy, K Janardhanam and S Muthukumaraswamy. All of them were charged under Section 120(B), 109 and 409 of the IPC and Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. When the case came up for hearing this morning, all the accused except Ms Jayalalitha, Ms Sasikala, Mr Nedunchezhian and Mr Muthukumaraswamy, were present at the court. The judge rejected Mr Pandey’s submission that his petition, challenging the Governor’s sanction to prosecute him in the case was pending before the High Court, which had granted a stay on the trial process till August 18 last. The Judge also rejected the submission of Mr Nedunchezhian’s counsel that an appeal, challenging the dismissal of his petition seeking to discharge him from the case was pending before the High Court. "My hands are not tied. The Apex Court has directed me to go ahead with the trial process," the Judge pointed out. (UNI) |
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Dikshit achieves another milestone in long innings NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Staging a spectacular come back into the hurly burly of active politics after virtual retirement, Shela Dikshit today became the first woman Congress Chief Minister of Delhi. After a series of debacles in the elections she fought since 1991, the 60-year old Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) President, who led the party to a landslide victory in Assembly elections, was sworn in by Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor. A close confidante of party chief Sonia Gandhi, the soft spoken but firm Dikshit, daughter-in-law of late Uma Shankar Dikshit, a senior Congress leader and former Union Minister, performed several important assignments at the Centre. As a Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Government between 1986 and 1989, she proved herself to be an energetic and effective floor coordinator. Entering th chaos of Delhi politics for the first time, Dikshit took over reins of a faction-ridden DPCC soon after the 1998 Lok Sabha elections in which the party had suffered a severe drubbing with only one of its seven candidates emerging victorious. Dikshit herself had lost the battle in East Delhi. A master of arts from University of Delhi’s prestigious Miranda House, she was picked up after a virtual exit from active politics to lead the crumbling Delhi Congress mainly because of her proximity to 10, Janpath. Both the women absorbed the Congress in its hey days. Born at Kapurthala in Punja, Dikshit married Vinod, the only son of Uma Shankar Dikshit. The marriage led to her close association with Congress politics. As Uma Shankar’s daughter-in-law, she played a role which Sonia Gandhi was to do a few years later. The lessons learnt by both after their marriage paid well. Sharing more than just political lessons with Sonia, her emotional bond with the Congress chief played a key role in rejuvenating a demoralised state party unit which was in the doldrums for years. Even though she was not projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the Congress in the run up to the November 25 elections, her choice as legislature party leader did not come as a surprise. Dikshit not only won handsomely from the restigious Gole Market constituency humbling sitting MLA and former cricket star Kirti Azad in the BJP bastion but led the party to a near three-fourths majority in the 70-member Assembly. A calm and patient Dikshit also brought about unity and discipline in the state party and gave it the much needed strength and direction to demolish the saffron fortress, leaving it with a paltry share of 15 seats. (PTI) |
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Lok Sabha witnesses
flutter on MPs’ NEW DELHI, Dec 3: Lok Sabha today witnessed a flutter when Congress member Suryakanta Patil wanted the chair to intervene for eviction of guests of ministers and MPs occupying 135 Government flats and bungalows in the Union Capital. Raising the issue during zero hour, Patil said these guests were being given extension repeatedly while 40 MPs were yet to be given accommodation even after nine months of their being elected. Patil and some of her colleagues also rushed to the well of the house but they were soon persuaded by senior members to resume their seats. Speaker GMC Balayogi tried to pacify the angry members and said hewould soon convene a meeting in this regard. Patil alleged eviction notices were served two months ago for vacacting those flats and bungalows but nothing had been done, and claimed the director of estates had told her that he was helpless as there was a pressure on him from the Prime Minister’s Office. She pointed out that persons like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Buta Singh, Jaffer Sharief and Bhaskar Rao had no accommodation, and threatened she would move a privilege motion against the House Committee Chairman as well as the Urban Development Minister. The Government is deliberately ignoring her party’s MPs in allotment of houses, she charged. (PTI) |
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Leftists call Bihar bandh on December 11 PATNA, Dec 3: Seven Left Parties today gave a call for Bihar bandh on December 11 to protest spiralling prices, Centre’s policies of liberalisation and privatisation, communalism and alleged deterioration of law and order in the state. Addressing a press conference, senior CPI leader Suraj Prasad said opening up of the insurance sector to foreign capital would prove deterimental to Indian economy at a time when it was under severe stress due to skyrocketting prices. The Left Parties also decided to extend support to the two day general hartal called by Jan Sangathan Manch on December 10 and 11. The parties which have given the call are CPI, CPI-M RSP, Forward Bloc, Marxist Coordination Committee, SUCI and Marxist Communist Party of India (MCPI). (PTI) |
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