NEWS IN BRIEF – APR 17, 2012
1. Non-UPA CMs join hands to fight ‘overbearing’ Centre, Joint Strategy
For Prez Poll In Offing?: New Delhi: The battle lines for a states versus
Centre faceoff got sharply drawn on Monday when non-UPA chief
ministers — including Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik, Gujarat’s Narendra Modi
and Tamil Nadu’s J Jayalalithaa — got together for an unscheduled
meeting here to work out a common line on contentious issues. While this
was the main purpose of the meeting, there was talk of this coordination
developing into a common strategy for the coming presidential election.
[TOI p1]
2. Non-Congress parties find common ground : New Delhi: The chief
ministers of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Gujarat were not together for long at
an unscheduled meeting on the sidelines of Monday’s conference on
internal security, but the deliberate media exposure of the interaction at
Tamil Nadu House pointed to a political subtext beyond a meeting of
minds on opposing the Centre over initiatives seen to be an intrusion on
state turf. [TOI p14]
3. PM: Centre, states must fight terror together: New Delhi: Faced with
strong opposition from non-Congress states on the National Counter-
Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the Centre on Monday took a moderate line
stressing on coordination with states to tackle the challenges of internal
security. [TOI p14]
4. TMC line: Don’t marry into CPM families: Kolkata: If the Trinamool
Congress has its way, none of its party members or anyone in their family
will ever tie the knot with CPM cadre. This is the official party line ahead of
the 2013 panchayat elections. [TOI p1]
5. PC on Naxal issue : Don’t let numbers fool you : New Delhi : With
Maoist attacks against security forces becoming increasingly systematic
by the day, home minister P Chidambaram has scaled up the level of
threat posed by the rebels — dubbing them as “the most formidable
internal security challenge”.[HT p10]
6. CAG Report Against Rane, Deshmukh to be Tabled Today: MUMBAI :
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report indicting several ministers of
the Maharashtra government, including former chief minister and Union
science and technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, for irregular land
allotments, will be tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday. [ET p2]
7. Singhvi gets HC injunction against broadcast of fabricated CD : New
Delhi :The Delhi High Court has restrained one Mukesh Kumar Lal and
others from “publishing, broadcasting, disseminating or distributing in any
form or manner the contents of any alleged CD or any other material as
described in the plaint in relation to the plaintiff No. 2,” senior Congress
leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manu Abhishek Singhvi.[IE p1]
8. Indiscipline increasing in Army, says Dhumal : New Delhi :Himachal
Pradesh Chief Minister P K Dhumal today complained to the prime
minister and defence minister about the Army’s statement on Shimla’s
Annandale ground, even as the Army sought to shift the blame to a civilian
public relations officer from the information and broadcasting ministry and
ordered an inquiry into the media release.[IE p1]
9. Sonia has one, PM has one, now Reddy wants his petro school : New
Delhi :Congress president Sonia Gandhi has one. Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has announced another. Now Petroleum Minister S
Jaipal Reddy wants the third one: a petroleum institute in his electoral
constituency that would be funded by cash-strapped state-run oil
companies.[IE p1]
10. Riots : RSS praises Modi for performing ” Raj Dharma’: Gandhinagar
:The RSS has lauded Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for performing
his “Raj Dharma” during the 2002 riots, contradicting former prime minister
A B Vajpayee’s letter sent to Modi soon after the riots exhorting him to
perform his “Raj Dharma”.[IE p2]
11. Had no say on Kushwaha says Shahi : Lucknow : Breaking his silence
on the induction of Babu Singh Kushwaha just before the Assembly
elections, outgoing UP BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi on Monday said
it was the party leadership’s decision, not his, and that he had not taken
Rs 200 crore from Kushwaha, as alleged by some people.[IE p3]
12. Free Kushwaha, demand OBC and MBC leaders : Lucknow :
Representatives from OBC caste groups and Most Backward caste (MBC)
groups have joined hands to demand the release of former BSP minister
Babu Singh Kushwaha who is presently in jail on charges of corruption in
the NRHM scam..[AA p2]
13. Dhoni in Rajya Sabha if JVM bats right?: Patna :Unimaginable it may
sound to many, but untrue it is not. Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh
Dhoni’s name is being considered for a Rajya Sabha nomination from
Jharkhand by the state’s Opposition Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) led
by former CM Babulal Marandi.[AA p2]
14. PM, Pranab call meets to discuss issues raised by Pawar : New Delhi
: With Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar writing
letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee expressing his frustration with the government taking decisions
“against the interests” of farmers engaged in sugarcane and cotton
cultivation, the PM and Mukherjee have called meetings next week to
resolve issues raised by him.[IE p3]
15. EC plans call centre to monitor complaints : New Delhi :Having
decided to hold the Rajya Sabha elections to two seats from Jharkhand
afresh in the wake of allegations of use of money power as inducement
and other malpractices during the poll process last month, the Election
Commission on Monday issued fresh measures to curb such malpractices.
The notification for the fresh polls was also issued on Monday.[IE p3]
16. Maharashtra civic polls : Cong gains, boost for Deshmukh : Mumbai
:As counting ended for polls to five municipal corporations across
Maharashtra on Monday, the stage appeared set for a fresh power tussle
between coalition partners Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, with
the former regaining some pride lost to its junior coalition partner in recent
elections. Of the 371 corporator wards that went to polls this weekend in
Chandrapur, Latur, Parbhani, Malegaon and Bhiwandi, the Congress
captured 149 seats while the NCP managed only 64.[IE p3]
17. Assam new hotbet of Naxal groups : PC : New Delhi :Home Minister P
Chidambaram on Monday said Assam was slowly becoming a new hotbed
for Naxal groups, which were developing links with many insurgent
organisations in the neighbouring states.[IE p4]
18. Revoke AFSPA, decrease troop presence in J&K : New Delhi
:Reiterating his demand for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers
Act (AFSPA) from areas not affected by terrorism, J&K Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah Monday sought “progressive” decrease in the presence of
security forces in the state.[IE p4]
19. Can’t meet Fernandes : HC to Jaya Jaitley : New Delhi : In a setback
to Jaya Jaitly, close aide of former defence minister George Fernandes,
the Delhi High Court has declined her visitation rights to meet the ailing
leader. It held that she cannot have a say in the case between his brothers
and his wife.[IE p7]
20. Jaitley warns of Stir against MLA’s arrest : Jaipur :Leader of
Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley met arrested BJP MLA
Rajendra Singh Rathore, accused in the Dara Singh fake encounter case,
on Monday in Jaipur Central Jail. Jaitley, who also met senior state BJP
leaders, slammed the CBI’s chargesheet against Rathore and termed the
agency as a tool for the Congress.[IE p7]
21. Maharashtra govt files report on probe against Kripashankar : New
Delhi :The Maharashtra government today submitted a report in the
Supreme Court on its investigations into allegations of disproportionate
assets against former Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh and his
family members.[IE p7]
22. BJP takes to streets against Cong MP for ‘insult’ to ‘Ma Narmada’ :
Bhopal :The ruling BJP has taken to the streets accusing a Congress MP
of insulting the Narmada. Sajjan Singh Varma, the MP from Dewas, had
accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family members of
being involved in illegal sand mining along the banks of the Narmada, and
warned that “the river knows how to deal with those who rape and exploit
it”.[IE p8]
23. India goes for fresh security review of Kabul embassy area : NEW
DELHI: The well-coordinated, 18-hour terror attacks in Kabul that targeted
the Afghan Parliament, Western embassies and Nato forces, has once
again forced a security review of Indian assets in Afghanistan.[HT p1]
24. Centre relieved as Mamata skips security meet, TMC Chief Saves
Govt Blushes As Her Views On Federal Issues Are Similar To
Oppn’s: New Delhi: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee chose
to stay away from the CMs’ conference on internal security on Monday for
good reasons and had made it clear to the Centre that she would be
sending her representative to the meeting but would not attend it. [TOI
p14]
25. CBI seeks Interpol help to probe Tatra scam links: New Delhi: The
Central Bureau of Investigation, probing the Tatra scam spread across
four countries including a tax haven, has approached Interpol to get
details of companies related to Vectra chief Ravinder Rishi from these four
countries.[TOI p1]
26. 4th front an evergreen mirage: Cong: New Delhi: Congress seemed
unperturbed with the rallying of non-Congress chief ministers on the antifederal
plank, including the NCTC issue, with the ruling party calling the
talks of a fourth front “an evergreen mirage of national politics”. [TOI p14]
27. Press Council, EC trying to tackle paid news: Soni : New Delhi
:Opining that paid news has assumed both corporate and political
dimensions, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni has said
in a media function in Thrissur that there have been complaints against big
business players of either paying journalists directly or managements of
media organisations to get favourable coverage, often concealing facts.
[HT p10]
28. Good news for Maharashtra Cong : Mumbai :After the debacle in the
civic elections of the state’s ten cities including Mumbai, the Congress
made a turnaround in central-eastern Maharashtra by emerging as the
singlelargest party in four of the five municipal corporations that went to
polls on April 15.[HT p11]
29. All the accused in 1996 Bihar Dalit carnage acquitted by High Court :
Patna :The Patna High Court has acquitted all the 23 persons accused of
perpetrating the massacre of 21 Dalits at Bathani Tola in Bhojpur in
1996.[The Hindu p1]
30. Scrap goodwill delegations to Haj, says Supreme Court: New Delhi :
Frowning at the practice of politicians and bureaucrats travelling on Haj
pilgrimage on government subsidy, the Supreme Court on Monday told
the Centre that these “goodwill delegations” need to be scrapped to
ensure that only genuine pilgrims benefited.[The Hindu p1]
31. EC moves to arrest money power in Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls :
New Delhi :To prevent use of “money power” or “malpractices” in the
revised schedule of the May 3 biennial election for the two Rajya Sabha
seats from Jharkhand, the Election Commission has introduced several
measures to tighten the process and prevent “horse trading”. The
notification for the revised schedule was issued on Monday.[The Hindu
p6]
32. Will Akhilesh bail out Sonia’s projects?, Plans That Didn’t See Light
Of Day In Maya Regime May Strengthen Cong-SP Ties: New Delhi:
Will Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav oblige after Mayawati
persistently stalled key projects in Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli? With the
BSP supremo no longer UP CM, the Centre is set to petition her
replacement to sanction 50 acres of land in Rae Bareli for an elite institute
for pharmaceutical research. [TOI p10]
33. Dhumal moves PM, Antony alerts Gen: New Delhi: With Himachal
Pradesh chief minister P K Dhumal taking up the issue of control over
Shimla’s Annandale ground with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
Monday, defence minister A K Antony asked Army chief General V K
Singh to quickly resolve the controversy with the state. [TOI p10]
34. Don’t usurp State power in police reforms name : New Delhi :
Reiterating his opposition to the NCTC in its present form, Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the core issue in its formation was
the violation of the federal principle. He emphasised on the need for more
consultations and collaboration between the Centre and the States to
resolve all matters of internal security.[Pioneer Daily p5]
35. Bhaiyaji to meet BJP leaders, discuss internal issues : New Delhi :
RSS’ number two Suresh Bhaiyaji Joshi will meet top BJP leaders
separately here on Tuesday, as part of the Sangh’s exercise to address
BJP’s internal issues and future course of action..[Pioneer Daily p7]
36. Cybercrime a big threat, says Mamata after jailing teacher : NEW
DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee chose the chief
ministers’ conference on Monday to defend — albeit, in a roundabout way
— her decision to arrest a university professor for circulating a spoof on
her on the net.[HT p1]
37. Delhi votes to make history, verdict today, Unauthorized Colonies,
Slums, Rural Areas Better Poll Count: New Delhi: The fate of 2,423
contestants will be known only by Tuesday evening but the city itself
moved up a grade in Sunday’s municipal polls by recording a 55% turnout.
[TOI p2]
38. New budget likely in first House meet : New Delhi: MCD’s executive
wing has expedited the process to divide manpower and infrastructure
between the three new corporations. On April 30, MCD will cease to exist.
Sources said that the budget of the three corporations is likely to be
passed in the first House meeting. [TOI p2]
39. 10% relaxation on OBC quota this yr: New Delhi: More students from
the other backward class (OBC) category will be eligible to apply for
admission to Delhi University this academic year. Implementing a 2011
Supreme Court order, the University shall now provide 10% relaxation on
the minimum eligibility criteria to OBC candidates. This would be
applicable to undergraduate and postgraduate courses from the 2012-13
session. [TOI p6]
40. Village near Delhi border records highest voter turnout Posh GK-1
betters 2007, still figures last on list : NEW DELHI: Tucked away in the
northernmost corner of Delhi, the small village of Bakhtawarpur finds itself
in news for an admirable reason. The village recorded the highest turnout
of voters for municipal election on Sunday — 69 per cent.[HT p2]
41. BJP, Cong confident, BSP hopes to improve tally : NEW DELHI: A
day before the counting of votes, the two major political parties of Delhi —
Congress and the BJP — claimed that they will sweep the municipal polls.
After the state election commission came out with voting percentages of
different wards, senior leaders of both the parties held closed-door
meetings to analyse their chances.[HT p2]
42. Civic poll results to be out by 3 pm : New Delhi : The counting of votes
for all 272 wards in the three new civic bodies in the city will start 8:30
tuestday morning and the results are likely to be out by evening. deciding
the fate of the 2423, candidates in fray.[AA p13]
43. Feud continues to divide U’khand Cong : Dehradun :There is no end
to the factional feud in Uttarakhand Congress. The latest spat between
two arch rivals Satpal Maharaj, Pauri Garhwal MP and Harish Rawat,
Union Minister of Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs,
has erupted on the issue of efforts by the Congress to look for a “safe”
Assembly segment for Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.[The
Tribune p2]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
44. Swaminathan turns down HC panel berth: New Delhi : NEW DELHI:
Agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan has turned down the high court’s
offer of a berth in an expert committee to check pesticide levels in fruits
and vegetables sold in Delhi’s markets.[HT p5]
EDITORIAL / OPINION
45. Lost of transition : Sitaram Yechury :The Supreme Court ruling
sanctioning the legality of the Right to Education has also mandated every
private school to ensure at least 25% enrolment from the economically
weaker sections. The caveat is that the fees will be subsidised by the
government and the target will be reached progressively, in the coming
eight years.[HT p12]
46. Modi and responsibility : Peter Ronald Desouza :The response to the
Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate’s order, which says, “According to
SIT, no offence has been established against any of the 58 persons listed
in Zakia’s complaint”, has to be ethical and philosophical, not
ideological.[IE p10]
47. Could this Chauhan pip Modi to BJP’s chiefdom? : Nistula Hebbar:
Last month, amid the media blitz around Gujarat chief minister Narendra
Modi’s legal travails, and his astounding feat of polling the largest number
of negative and third largest number of positive endorsements on a “most
powerful list” compiled by Time magazine, another BJP chief minister was
quietly earning his spurs.[FE p9]
BUSINESS NEWS
48. Pro-growth stance crucial: RBI: Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has said that even though inflation may remain sticky there is a need
to adopt a pro-growth stance, which markets interpret as a signal for
impending rate cuts. RBI’s pro-growth stance comes in its pre-policy
report on the economy where the median forecasts for GDP growth has
shrunk from 7.3% to 7.2% earlier. [TOI p19]
