NEWS IN BRIEF – JULY 07, 2012
1. PC to Take Hot Seat at Telecom EGoM, Tasked with job despite being
under Oppn attack: NEW DELHI : The government has entrusted the
leadership of a crucial ministerial panel set up to resolve problems
afflicting the telecom sector with Home Minister P Chidambaram, a move
sure to be interpreted as a show of confidence in the Tamil Nadu politician
on the part of the prime minister and Congress leadership. [ET p1]
2. SC Dismisses Petition Against Mukherjee :NEW DELHI : Observing
that it cannot be a “theatre for farcical play,” the Supreme Court on Friday
dismissed a petition that accused Pranab Mukherjee of resorting to
corruption in soliciting votes for the Presidential poll and warned an
advocate of stringent action if he comes forward with similar pleas in
future.[ET p2]
3. BJP slams PM for ‘passing the buck’: New Delhi: Opposition BJP on
Friday mounted a scathing attack on PM Manmohan Singh, alleging that
he is “directly and openly” trying to put all the blame for the economic
slowdown on former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and charged that
he was equally responsible for the financial mess. [ET p2]
4. BJP slams PM, reform hope thrills industry : New Delhi : Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s assertions that the India growth story is intact
and the government will control fiscal deficit, attract investments and open
up new avenues for savings have evoked conflicting responses from the
Opposition and industry.[HT p1]
5. Lashkar men guarding Lakhvi in Pak prison : New Delhi : In a
revelation that raises questions over the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial taking
place in Pakistan, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal has told interrogators
that Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) military commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
was being guarded in jail by LeT operatives.[HT p8]
6. Cong kicks off prez campaign, Mamata still on Radar : New Delhi :
Even as Pranab Mukherjee is travelling across the country to campaign for
his presidential candidature, Congress managers have started another
poll exercise to ensure votes for him.[HT p11]
7. Pranab’s resignation letter to ISI forged : Kangra :Launching a
scathing attack on UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Leader
of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Friday said that going
by the facts and documents submitted, it appears that his resignation letter
to the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) was forged.[Pioneer Daily p4]
8. Prez poll: SFI in JNU up in arms: New Delhi: The SFI unit in Jawaharlal
Nehru University came out strongly against its mother party CPM’s
decision to support Congressman and UPA candidate for Rashtrapati
Bhavan Pranab Mukherjee. [TOI p6]
9. SC scraps assets case against Maya : New Delhi: The Supreme Court
on Friday quashed the CBI’s nine-yearold disproportionate assets case
against BSP chief and former UP chief minister Mayawati in a judgment
seen as having undercut the Centre’s leverage with the dalit leader while
enhancing her space for manoeuvering.[TOI p1]
10. I-T case too settled, kin paid extra Rs 8 cr tax : New Delhi : Months
before the Supreme Court quashed a nine-year-old disproportionate
assets case against BSP chief Mayawati on Friday, the former Uttar
Pradesh chief minister’s family had also settled a 2007 dispute with the
Income-Tax Department by paying additional tax of Rs 8.4 crore..[IE p1]
11. PM can’t distance himself from FM’s decisions, says BJP : New Delhi
: The opposition BJP on Friday attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
for “directly and openly” blaming former finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee for the alleged economic mess in the country and charged the
Prime Minister for being a “full partner and complicit” behind all the
decisions taken on the economic front since the UPA came to power in
2004.[IE p2]
12. Ramdev seeks permission for 35 day protest at Ramlila Maidan : New
Delhi : Baba Ramdev has applied to the Delhi Police for permission to sit
for a relay fast at Ramlila Maidan for 35 days begining July 25.[IE p5]
13. Maya yet to get relief in Taj Corridor case : Lucknow : Former chief
minister Mayawati may have got relief in the disproportionate assets case,
but the case arising from the Taj Corridor controversy of 2003, which
actually led to the DA case, is pending in the Allahabad High Court since
2009.[IE p9]
14. Cong misusing CBI, says BJP : New Delhi : The opposition BJP on
Friday accused the ruling Congress of “misusing” the CBI for political
gains even as it kept silent on the BSP’s allegation that the NDA also
misused the investigating agency to target Mayawati as the case goes
back to the time when the NDA government was in power at Centre.[IE
p9]
15. Rao was not at Puja during Babri demoliton : Ex-OSD : Patna :
Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao was neither at a puja nor was
he asleep at the time of demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on
December 6, 1992, according to a retired IPS officer, who has contested
the claims made by veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar in his soon-to-be
published book Beyond The Lines.[IE p9]
16. Campaigning ends for Sitarganj by-poll : Dehradun :Electioneering for
the Uttarakhand Assembly by-election from Sitarganj where Chief Minister
Vijay Bahuguna is locked in a straight fight with former Assembly Speaker
Prakash Pant of the BJP ended on Friday with both parties holding road
shows.[The Hindu p5]
17. Govt role in land acquisition to stay : New Delhi: With Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh calling for cutting red tape to promote investment and to
fuel growth, the Centre has decided to retain a government role in
acquiring land for private companies, rejecting a parliamentary panel
recommendation barring states from aiding private bodies. [TOI p1]
18. HC snubs Modi Govt, Governor to decide on minister probe :
Ahmedabad :A week after the state government refused to sanction
prosecution of minister Purushottam Solanki in an alleged R400 crore
fishing contracts scam, the Gujarat high court on Thursday ruled governor
Kamla Beniwal would have the final say.[HT p8]
19. Prime Minister Talks Like a Govt Consultant: Sinha : NEW DELHI :
Taking jibes at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP accused him of
washing his hands off decisions taken by Pranab Mukherjee as finance
minister and said he was talking as a ‘consultant’ to the government rather
than its leader. Former finance minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha
took on Singh for castigating the Vajpayee regime and said “no prime
minister can look for consensus with the Opposition if he starts with this
premise that it took him so many years to undo things done by NDA.”[ET
p2]
20. PM’s statement betrays defeat, frustration: Sinha : New Delhi :
Accusing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of distancing himself from the
management of the economy by the former Finance Minister and UPA
Presidential nominee, Pranab Mukherjee, the BJP has said that it speaks
volumes of the integrity of Dr. Singh.[The Hindu p10]
21. Gowda clears 58 decisions in 60 mins, new CM likely on July 11 :
Bangalore : In what was widely perceived to be the last Cabinet meeting
headed by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, the Karnataka
government today cleared 58 decisions within an hour — ranging from the
creation of a cow protection committee to funding for urban
corporations.[IE p1]
22. BJP meet today to announce Shettar as CM : Bengaluru : A formal
decision to anoint Jagadish Shettar as the Chief Minister is likely to be
taken by the ruling party’s all powerful parliamentary board on Saturday, a
move which would ring curtains on the impasse over the leadership issue
in Karnataka..[AA p3]
23. Congress Core Group reviews Presidential poll campaign : New
Delhi : The Congress Core Group met on Friday evening to review the
strategy to get the former Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, elected
President. It also had some preliminary discussions on the vicepresidential
election.[The Hindu p10]
24. CBI may seek SC verdict review : New Delhi : In the wake of an
adverse order in the disproportionate assets (DA) case against BSP
Supremo Mayawati, the CBI is exploring the possibility of seeking a review
but before that it would like to seek legal opinion from government law
officers.[AA p2]
25. Trinamool caught in verbal war with Congress, Left Front : Kolkata :A
day after Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram expressed concern over
“growing political violence in West Bengal,” the Trinamool Congress was
caught in a war of words not just with the Left Front but also its ally, the
Congress, here on Friday.[The Hindu p11]
26. SFIO Starts Probe into Radia Cos : NEW DELHI : The Serious Fraud
Investigation office (SFIO) has initiated a probe into the functioning of
several companies owned by the controversial lobbyist Niira Radia, after
the registrar of companies found inconsistencies in their financial
accounts. [ET p4]
27. Centre’s weak policy on Kashmir will encourage separatist elements
: Jaitley : Jammu : Charging the Central government with adopting a
weak and confusing policy on Kashmir, Leader of the Opposition in the
Rajya Sabha and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley today said that report
submitted by the three interlocutors appointed by the Union Government
was nothing but an attempt to appease separatist elements of the Kashmir
valley and to further weaken the state’s constitutional relations with
India.[The Tribune p6]
28. You got your figures wrong, Mamata to PC : Kolkata : The West
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has contested the union home
minister P Chidambaram’s statement about a spurt in inter-party clashes
in the state, saying his information was ‘incorrect’.[Millennium Post p1]
29. Rape charge baseless, Rahul tells SC : New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi on
Friday urged the Supreme Court to dismiss a petition filed by an ex-MLA
of the Samajwadi Party, which alleged that Gandhi had abducted and
raped a girl in Amethi.[ET p4]
30. Jailed MLAs attended Akhilesh’s lunch for Pranab : Lucknow : Under
fire from the Opposition over the presence of two jailed MLAs at Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s lunch for United Progressive
Alliance’s Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee this past Tuesday, the
State Government has sought a report from the jail administration.[The
Hindu p7]
31. Prez poll candidate debate not practical : Guwahati : Presidential
candidate of the UPA, Pranab Mukherjee, who arrived here on Friday said
that All India United Democratic Front and Bodoland Peoples Front have
extended their support to his candidature.[AA p2]
32. Delhi bus shelter tender designed to favour MNC, Domestic
Companies Say They Can Do As Good A Job, But The Terms In
Tender Are Against Them : New Delhi: The tender for upgrading and
maintaining more than 300 bus shelters in Delhi has triggered a
controversy amidst allegations that its terms are designed to benefit a
multinational company, leaving out Indian companies who claim to be
equally equipped to carry out the project. [TOI p5]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
33. Jaipur Sessions Judge transferred from post : Jaipur : Jaipur
Sessions Court Judge P. C. Jain, who last month delivered the order
absolving former Minister and BJP chief whip Rajendra Singh Rathore of
charges of involvement in the Dara Singh alleged fake encounter case,
stands transferred from the post.[The Hindu p7]
34. Khurshid suggests guidelines for judges remarks in court : New
Delhi : Union law minister Salman Khurshid suggested Friday that judges
should evolve guidelines and be more careful while making observations
during court proceedings.[AA p1]
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
35. Day after, Pak denies India gave info on Jundal : A day after India said
it had “shared information” with Pakistan on the interrogation of 26/11
accused Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, Pakistan Foreign Secretary
Jalil Abbas Jilani today denied the same.[IE p1]
