NEWS IN BRIEF – APR 09, 2012
1. Act against terrorists if you want peace: PM to Zardari, ‘Bring 26/11
Perpetrators To Justice’: New Delhi: India on Sunday reacted positively
to Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari’s fresh bid for normalization of ties,
but made it clear that Pakistan would have to take substantive steps on
terrorism for peace to break out among the nuclear-armed
neighbours.[TOI p1]
2. Prez polls: Cong, TMC mend fences : New Delhi: With the presidential
polls coming up in July, Congress is having to keep UPA allies like the
Trinamool Congress in good humour. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee too
has decided not to go in for confrontation with Congress at the moment, it
seems. [TOI p9]
3. PM talks terror, Zardari harps on K-word, Time To Resolve Kashmir,
Siachen, Sir Creek: Pak Prez To Manmohan: New Delhi: While Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue of terrorism and the need to
expedite the trial of Mumbai attacks accused with Pakistani President Asif
Ali Zardari, government sources said Zardari focused on Kashmir, Sir
Creek and Siachen issues saying it was high time these were
resolved.[TOI p11]
4. Sonia pulls out of PM’s lunch at last minute: New Delhi: Congress
president Sonia Gandhi pulled out of PM Manmohan Singh’s luncheon
meeting with Pakistani President Asif Zardari at the last moment which
resulted in her son and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi being
the sole representative of the Congress party at the PM’s high table. [TOI
p11]
5. Before elections, Modi shifts 68 cops: Ahmedabad: The Narendra
Modi government on Sunday transferred 68 senior police officers ahead of
the assembly elections in December. Fifty of these are IPS officers.
Sources in the government told TOI that a second round of police and
administrative transfers may be expected after the Jagannath Rath Yatra
in July. [TOI p9]
6. To check delays, UIDAI will now SMS Aadhaar numbers : New Delhi
:Faced with complaints of long delays in getting the Aadhaar number, the
Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is
speeding up the delivery process using the mobile phone.[HT p1]
7. Maoists release tape, seek clarity on govt position : New Delhi:The
fate of abducted Italian Paolo Basusco remained gripped in uncertainty
with Maoists issuing another audiotape on Sunday, seeking clarification
from the Odisha government on the prisoners it was releasing in exchange
for him.[HT p1]
8. Parking, healthon BJP radar : New Delhi :To woo voters ahead of the
municipal elections, the BJP has announced that it will build 100 more
underground parkings and improve health facilities if it comes back to
power in the three municipal corporations.[HT p4]
9. Kashmiri bizman held for French woman’s death: New Delhi: Three
days after a 34-year-old French woman was found dead at a Paharganj
hotel in central Delhi, police on Sunday morning arrested a Kashmiri from
Srinagar, where he had reportedly fled, for the alleged murder. He has
been brought to the capital on transit remand. [TOI p1]
10. BJP Wooing EBCs, Maha Dalits for Posterity in Bihar: PATNA : BJP
seems to be proactively engaged in programmes that could stand it in
good stead if its alliance with JD(U) is called off. It is actively competing
with JD(U) to reach out to Maha Dalits and Extremely Backward Castes
(EBCs), which the JD(U) leadership resents. Both Maha Dalits and EBCs
have been supporters of chief minister Nitish Kumar, which has benefitted
alliance partner BJP too. [ET p3]
11. CPM sets 3-term limit for party secys: Kozhikode: By limiting the
tenure of secretaries in all levels of the party to three terms, the CPM on
Sunday took a bold step in reining in the trends of institutionalization in the
leadership. [TOI p10]
12. RSS toasts Indira stand on hostages: New Delhi: The RSS has praised
late Indira Gandhi as the only one who had stood her ground against
terror while it took a dig at BJP’s Jaswant Singh for accompanying
Kashmiri terrorists to secure the release of a planeload of Indian hostages.
[TOI p10]
13. Five arrested for trying to bribe SP MLA : Badaun :Five persons,
including three ration shop owners, were arrested for allegedly trying to
bribe SP MLA Abid Raza here, police said on Sunday. An FIR under the
AntiCorruption Act was registered against ration shop owner Anekpal, his
brother Bhagwandas and three others after they were caught giving a
bribe to the MLA on Saturday, police said. [HT p8]
14. VP poll : Najma warms up to Cong : New Delhi : Finance Minister and
UPA government’s troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee had an unusual
visitor at his Talkatora Road residence recently. It was none other than
former Congress and now BJP MP Najma Heptulla, who was inducted into
the Rajya Sabha last month by her newly-adopted party after a two-year
wait.[The Tribune p2]
15. Someone may have read too much ( into movements of troops) :
MoS : New Delhi :Admitting that “probably someone down the line (in the
government) may have read too much” into the troop movements on the
night between January 16 and 17, Minister of State for Defence M M
Pallam Raju today said he wasn’t aware if “protocols” were violated.[IE
p1]
16. Inviting Rahul, tweeting peace, Bilawal gushes : Why the n-race? :
New Delhi :While father Asif Ali Zardari secured a confirmation from
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to visit Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto
Zardari extended an invitation to Rahul Gandhi, who reportedly said
yes.[IE p1]
17. Will make changes in Lokayukta Bill : Uttarakhand CM : Dehradun
:Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Sunday said he would carry out certain
amendments in the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill, which was passed by the
Assembly unanimously in November last year.[IE p4]
18. Make list of talented for jobs, TMC tells youth wing : Kolkata :Railway
Minister and senior Trinamool leader Mukul Roy today asked the party’s
student leaders to prepare an “employment bank” to enlist the names of
talented students who might be offered employment in the future.[IE p4]
19. RS polls : CBI takes up cash case, MLAs rush to lawyers : Ranchi
:With Jharkhand High Court directing the Election Commission to ask CBI
to probe into seizure of cash hours before the Rajya Sabha polls, anxious
MLAs have reportedly started visiting charted accountants and lawyers to
ensure that they do not get dragged into the controversy.[IE p4]
20. Chhattisgarh coal block allocation caused Rs 1000- crore loss : CAG
: Raipur :Chief Minister Raman Singh is under severe attack from his
partymen as well as Opposition Congress over a CAG report indicting his
ministry for allocating coal blocks at “throwaway price” to a company,
causing a loss of Rs 1,052 crore to the exchequer.[IE p5]
21. RS money game : Kings & powns under I-T lens : Ranchi :Top
sources in the Income Tax department claimed having gathered sufficient
clues about a woman legislator of ruling coalition who believed to have
received Rs 2 crore from an independent candidate of RS election outside
Jharkhand as a price to cast her vote.[Pioneer Daily p4]
22. Rebels upset Cong in Uttarakhand : Bahuguna : New Delhi : The
process of Congress reviewing its performance in recent Assembly polls
continued on Sunday with a panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony
holding consultations with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to
assess the reasons for the party not getting a majority on its own.[Pioneer
Daily p5]
23. Modi shows the way on agri-growth : Ahmedabad :Chief Minister
Narendra Modi has said that Gujarat has achieved record output in
agriculture and dairy products despite the Centre’s injustice towards the
State.[Pioneer Daily p6]
24. Opp fireworks likely over CAG report : Mumbai :The leaked CAG
report, which has indicted senior current and former DF Ministers like
Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chhagan Bhujbal, Narayan Rane and Patangrao
Kadam, is bound to ignite fireworks during the second phase of the
Budget Session of the Maharashtra Legislature beginning on
Monday.[Pioneer Daily p6]
25. BJP dissolves all UP district units : New Delhi : In a desperate bid to
revamp its Uttar Pradesh unit, the BJP has dissolved its district units in the
state. After facing humiliating defeat in the recenly concluded Assembly
polls, the party has dissolved its 88 district units and various party
cells.[AA p2]
26. MP BJP will launch campaign for poor : Orchha : The Madhya
Pradesh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party will be launching a massive statewide
signature campaign and collect millions of signatures before
organising a sit-in agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to raise voice for
the protection of the rights of the poor.[AA p2]
27. Cong won’t project CM in BJP states : New Delhi : The Congress has
no plans to project its chief ministrerial candidates in about half-a dozen
states ruled by the BJP. These states are going to polls, by the end of this
year and next year.[AA p2]
28. Assembly sought for Andamans : Kozhikode :The Communist Party of
India (Marxist) on Sunday urged the Union government to take immediate
steps to provide a Legislative Assembly for the Andaman and Nicobar
islands on the Puducherry model to fulfil the aspirations of the people.[The
Hindu p9]
29. Five more on Naxal wishlist for MLA Hikaka’s freedom :
Bhubaneswar :After chairing a meeting here on Sunday, Orissa Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik said there was no confusion in prisoners’ release
list as stated by Naxal leader Sabyasachi Panda. He said there was
consensus between the government and Maoist mediators on release of
Paolo Basusco.[IE p6]
30. RSS slams BJP, Cong over anti-terror policy, praises Indira : New
Delhi :Critical of the manner in which the Orissa government has
capitulated to Maoist demands in return for the safe return of Italian Paolo
Basusco and BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, the RSS has called for a “well
thought out strategy” to be put in place to convey that “India is not a weak
state where anyone with a few bullets can take the nation to ransom”.[IE
p6]
31. Elected, Joshi likely to continue as PAC chief : New Delhi :Senior BJP
leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who heads the outgoing Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) of Parliament, is among the 15 Lok Sabha members
elected to the most prestigious panel for the next term. Since the
chairmanship of the committee traditionally goes to a nominee of the
principal opposition party, Joshi is likely to continue in the post.[IE p4]
32. UP plans SC status for 17 OBC sub-castes: Lucknow: The Samajwadi
Party government is gearing up to include 17 OBC sub-castes into the
Scheduled Castes. A high-level committee headed by Uttar Pradesh chief
secretary Jawed Usmani has sought details from the department of social
welfare before issuing a notification in this regard. The circular from the
UP chief secretary on March 28, too, speaks of the government’s
priorities, including the inclusion of 17 OBC sub-castes within the SC
category. [TOI p8]
33. BJP banks on old pledges, Single Manifesto For Three Agencies Has
Few New Issues: New Delhi: BJP, unlike its archrival Congress, has
come out with a common poll manifesto for the three corporations. While
releasing it on Sunday, the party leadership focused on “holistic
development” of the city but the manifesto itself has little to support their
grand plan.[TOI p4]
34. Cong attacks list of ‘false promises’: New Delhi: Congress on Sunday
sought to tear into BJP’s manifesto for MCD polls, calling it a “bunch of
lies” and list of “false promises” carried forward from the previous election.
[TOI p4]
35. Eye on Poorvanchalis, BJP promises Chhat holiday : New Delhi :The
BJP is going all out to court Poorvanchali voters of the city. The party has
reiterated its pledge to develop river banks for Chhat puja and demand
that the festival be declared a public holiday.[HT p4]
36. Sheila hits poll road, slams BJP for no work: New Delhi: With less
than a week left in the municipal elections, chief minister Sheila Dikshit is
out on roads to woo voters in favour of Congress candidates. Holding
public meetings in three constituencies in north Delhi, Dikshit on Sunday
showcased the good work done by her government and slammed the
BJP-ruled MCD for its failure to deliver. [TOI p4]
37. BJP repeats 07 promises in manifesto : New Delhi : The poll-bound
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) may be headed for a trifurcation, but
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thinks releasing three different
manifestoes for each corporation is pointless, considering “Delhi is still
one”.[IE p3]
