NEWS IN BRIEF – MAR 15, 2012
1. Dinesh Jumps Signal, Didi Pulls Chain, Furious With Fare Hike, Mamata Asks PM To Sack Her Nominee As Rail Minister, Demands Rollback, Cong May Yield, But Steps Up Search For New Partners:
New Delhi: Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi appeared to be on the brink of losing his job within hours of presenting a budget that was hailed by Congress as “forward looking” but savaged by his own party, Trinamool Congress, as “anti-people” for proposing an across-the-board passenger fare hike. [TOI p1]
1. Farewell to Trivedi after Fare Hike, Minister may Resign Today as Didi Fumes: NEW DELHI : Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s maiden budget triggered a full-blown crisis at the Centre when his own party, the Trinamool Congress, termed across the-board passenger fare hikes as a “hostile act” and asked the PM to sack him. [ET p1]
3. Mamata gets her way, Mukul Roy to take over : New Delhi : A daylong
drama over hike in passenger fares ended with Railway Minister
Dinesh Trivedi Submitting his resignation to the Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh. In an unprecedented move, the incumbent was shown the door by
his own party after presenting the Rail Budget. The UPA caved in to
pressure by Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee.[Pioneer Daily
p1]
4. After a decade, all tickets to cost more: New Delhi : Dinesh Trivedi on
Wednesday did what none of his predecessors had done for almost a
decade — he hiked passenger fares across the board, following up on the
increase in freight charges announced immediately after the recent round
of assembly elections. [TOI p1]
5. Allies, rebels mount pincer attack on Cong, Mamata uses Badal
event to snub UPA, hint at new front: Chhappar Chiri (Mohali):
6. Mamata Banerjee may have decided to stay away from the Akali
swearing-in on Wednesday, but she sent a clear message that she valued
ties with anti-Congress forces when she deputed senior leaders Mukul
Roy and Bengal minister Rachpal Singh to attend the ceremony. [TOI p9]
7. State Cong leaders want RS seats for local faces : NEW DELHI: With
fewer Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs for the Congress in the upcoming
biennial polls, opposition to “outsider candidates“ are gathering
momentum within the party. In Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and
Maharashtra, a significant section of the local leadership has reportedly
conveyed to the party’s central leadership that local candidates should get
nominations instead of candidates from other states.[HT p11]
8. Not-so-aam hike : 5 paise per km could means a 30% jump : New
Delhi : Union Rail Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s proposed fare hike- the first in
10 years – from two-paise- per km (ordinary) to 30 paise- per km (AC 1)
did not sound alarmist enough to provoke any protest in the Lok
Sabha..[IE p1]
9. Inquiry Commission yet to submit interim report on Adarsh Scam :
Mumbai : Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday
said he does not know when the interim report of the Judicial Commission
of Inquiry into the Adarsh housing society scam would be submitted.[The
Hindu p5]
10. Vilasrao Deshmuk set to be named in CBI’s Adarsh chargesheet :
Mumbai : Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh
and a Maharashtra IAS officer are expected to be added to the list of 14
people accused of wrongdoing in the Adarsh Housing Society scam when
the CBI files its chargesheet in about two months.[IE p1]
11. Warrants for 3 Iranians over attack on Israeli diplomat : New Delhi : A
week after a Delhi journalist working for an Iranian news agency was
arrested for his alleged role in the February 13 bomb attack on an Israeli
diplomat, a city court today issued non-bailable warrants against three
Iranian nationals in the case.[IE p1]
12. RS trouble hits NDA, Nitish stakes claim to 4 of 6 seats : PATNA:
The tug-of-war between the Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) over the ensuing Rajya Sabha polls came out in the open
when chief minister Nitish Kumar staked his claim on four out of the six
seats for which elections are scheduled on March 30.[HT p11]
13. UPA infighting is BJP ammo : NEW DELHI : As soon as the reaction
started pouring in for the Railway Budget on Wednesday, the Opposition,
mainly the BJP, was the one feeling quite elated. For the BJP, the Railway
Budget was another ammunition against the UPA, given by none other
than UPA’s own ally Trinamul Congress.[AA p2]
14. Lokpal in 1st Half of RS Session, Govt may move amendment to keep
Lokayuktas out of legislation’s ambit, to convene all-party meet
soon: NEW DELHI : The Opposition, acting in sync with the Trinamool
Congress, a component of the ruling UPA at the Centre, on Wednesday
scored a victory in the Rajya Sabha when it got the government to commit
itself to the passage of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill in the House in the
“first half of the budget session itself.’’ [ET p3]
15. BJD Supports NDA Motion Against NCTC : NEW DELHI : In a move
that could spell bad news for the Manmohan Singh government in the
Rajya Sabha, the Biju Janata Dal has joined hands with BJP, JD(U) and
the Shiromani Akali Dal in serving a joint notice against the inclusion of
National Counter Terror Agency in the presidential address.[ET p3]
16. Antony turns ‘silent sage’ before Cong graft : VS : Kochi : Unleashing
a scathing attack against Defence Minister and Congress Working
Committee member AK Antony, Kerala Assembly’s Opposition leader VS
Achuthanandan on Wednesday said that he was in the habit of adopting
the role of a “silent sage” whenever issues of corruption came up.[Pioneer
Daily p7]
2. Ex-Trai chairman quizzed in 2G case : New Delhi: Former telecom
minister A Raja’s counsel on Wednesday cross examined ex-Trai
chairman Nripendra Mishra, who was called as a prosecution witness in
the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. Mishra said in court that Unified
Access Services Licence (UASL) guidelines were issued by DoT on
December 14, 2005, when Dayanidhi Maran was the minister of
communication and information technology. [TOI p16]
18. Wily Rawat keeps party on edge : New Delhi: The delicate political
balance in Uttarakhand has seen dissenters make a careful assessment
of their strength. With the Congress interlocutors stopping short of
effecting a change in the CM candidate, the party hasn’t seem to have
broken much ice with Harish Rawat. [TOI p9]
19. DMK tightens screws on Lanka censure, Trouble just keeps
mounting for Congress : New Delhi: Ally pressure went up a notch for
the UPA on Wednesday as the DMK demanded that the government back
a US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council on Sri
Lanka’s alleged human rights violations against Tamils.[TOI p1]
20. SP men beat up Dalits near Maya village in Dadri: NEW DELHI: The
change of guard in Lucknow on Thursday -when a Samajwadi Party
government headed by Akhilesh Yadav is to be sworn in -had an ominous
portent in Greater Noida the day before. SP workers attacked Dalit
families in the Dadri area, where outgoing chief minister and BSP
supremo Mayawati’s ancestral village, Badalpur, is located. [HT p1]
3. No one needs to live in fear, says Akhilesh,promises honest govt :
LUCKNOW:Uttar Pradesh CM designate Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday
said his cabinet would initially be small but could be expanded later.
Yadav, 38, who will be sworn in on Thursday, said his priority would be
law and order and industry. “I am here to serve, not rule“, he said.[HT
p10]
22. SP demands ED inquiry into Mayawati’s assets : LUCKNOW: Barely
days after coming to power in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party on
Wednesday fired a salvo at BSP supremo Mayawati demanding an inquiry
by Enforcement Directorate into the assets of the outgoing CM.[HT p10]
23. Uttarakhand stalemate drags on as Rawat digs in : New Delhi:
Congress’s Uttarakhand stalemate continued on Wednesday with senior
leader Harish Rawat staying put at his residence and the party
leadership’s efforts to placate him with a formula that stops short of a
change of chief minister Vijay Bahuguna yet to yield results. [TOI p1]
24. Congress tides over U’khand crisis : NEW DELHI: Hectic efforts to
placate a hurt Harish Rawat appeared to have worked on Wednesday with
the rebel camp showing signs of reconciliation. “I will not be the cause for
any crisis either in Dehradun or in Delhi. My supporters wanted me to be
chief minister but it is not necessary that all wishes are always fulfilled,“
Harish Rawat said late Wednesday evening.[HT p10]
25. Bahuguna : Support of non-Cong MLAs helped me win CM race :
Dehradun : A day after he was sworn in as the new Uttarakhand Chief
Minister, Vijay Bahuguna said today that it was the support of the seven
non-Congress MLAs that gave him the edge in the race within his party for
the top post.[IE p6]
26. Badal spends 3 crore on swearing-in : Chappar Chiri (Mohali):
Buoyed by the historic success of breaking a 46-year-old jinx, the SADBJP
alliance on Wednesday indicated it was in no mood to take immediate
austere steps for the debt-ridden state, blowing up roughly Rs 3 crore on
its first official day. [TOI p17]
27. Court notice to investigator in CWG graft case : NEW DELHI: A Delhi
court on Wednesday ordered that a notice be issued to Delhi police in a
complaint against chief minister Sheila Dikshit, PWD minister Raj Kumar
Chauhan and former CWG OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi on a corruption
case related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[AA p13]
28. Anna postpones protest to March 25 : New Delhi: Team Anna on
Wednesday accused Congress of “sabotaging’’ the Jan Lokpal bill even as
it prepared for a protest dharna for a strong whistleblower’s act. The
dharna scheduled for Sunday has been postponed by a week to March
25.[TOI p6]
29. Lokpal Bill to be tabled before March 30 : Bansal : New Delhi : The
Government on Wednesday said it wants to bring the bill to set up anticorruption
ombudsman, Lokpal, in Rajya Sabha during the first part of the
current Budget Session of Parliament.[Pioneer Daily p1]
30. Blast accused wants to contest polls : New Delhi: A suspected Indian
Mujahideen terrorist has moved a trial court to seek permission to contest
the upcoming MCD elections. Zia-ur-Rehman, who is facing trial in the
2008 Delhi serial blasts, filed a petition through his counsel before
additional sessions judge Narinder Kumar. He sought permission to “file
nomination to contest MCD 2012 elections” from ward number 205, Zakir
Nagar. [TOI p7]
31. Fund ‘misuse’: Gupta serves notice on CM : New Delhi: Delhi BJP
president Vijender Gupta on Wednesday said he has served a notice of
defamation and claim for damages on chief minister Sheila Dikshit for
allegations of irregularities in the working of NGO Sampurna run by his
wife. [TOI p7]
32. Amarinder must quit as PCC chief : Brar : FARIDKOT: Factional feud
in the Punjab unit of Congress came out in the open on Wednesday after
a senior party leader demanded that state unit chief Amarinder Singh
resign following Congress’ defeat in the assembly polls. [HT p10]
33. BJP-SAD alliance on thin ice over sharing of seats : NEW DELHI: The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD-Badal)
electoral alliance in Delhi seems to be on a shaky ground. Recent
meetings between the two parties -which have been fighting elections
together in both Punjab and Delhi -on the issue of seat sharing for the
upcoming municipal polls have so far ended inconclusively.[HT p4]
34. CM’s allegations against BJP baseless: Malhotra : NEW DELHI:
Assembly Vijay Kumar fi in Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra has said
that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is trying to deflect people’s attention from
serious allegations of corruption against her government by attacking BJP
leaders without having proper facts and figures.[HT p4]
35. BJP MLAs unhappy over candidate selection : New Delhi : Most of
the Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs on Wednesday expressed unhappiness
over the procedure being adopted by Delhi party chief Vijender Gupta in
selection of candidates for the upcoming municipal polls complaining that
they were not being consulted.[The Hindu p3]
36. Ticket-seekers prefer manual applications over online ones : New
Delhi: Defying the directions issued by the senior party leadership to
apply online for party ticket, desperate ticket-seekers have started queuing
up at Delhi BJP office hoping to be blessed with party ticket for upcoming
MCD election.[Pioneer Daily p3]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
38. Aarushi case: Talwar’s bail extended : New Delhi:Spelling relief for Dr
Rajesh Talwar, a Special CBI court extended his bail in the Aarushi-
Hemraj double murder case on Wednesday. The court also offered some
respite to Nupur Talwar — who was absent at the hearing — asking her to
appear in court within 30 days, as directed by Allahabad High Court on
Tuesday. The hearing in the case was adjourned to April 11 by CBI
Special Judicial Magistrate Preeti Singh. [TOI p3]
BUSINESS NEWS
39. Kingfisher to cut overseas flights : New Delhi : In a bid to contain
further losses, troubled private carrier Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday
announced that it would be curtailing its international operations The
airline, which uses the wide-body Airbus A-330 aircraft for flights to
destinations like London and Hong Kong and the narrow body Airbus A-
320 for flights to cities in South Asian region, may prune its flights to the
U.K. and the far East.[The Hindu p1]
