NEWS IN BRIEF – MAR 20, 2012
1. Govt dilutes poverty norm, Says Number Of Poor Down By 5 Crore:
New Delhi: Data released by the Planning Commission on Monday
showed that poverty had significantly declined between 2004-05 and
2009-10. The catch is that this decline is based on a poverty line that is
even lower than the earlier Rs. 32-per-day mark that had triggered an
outrage when the government submitted it to the Supreme Court. [TOI
p1]
2. More poor now in Bihar, UP, Chhattisgarh : New Delhi : Bihar, UP and
Chhattisgarh registered a decline in poverty between 2004-5 and 2009-10,
but so slowly that the absolute number of poor has actually increased in
the five years. Bihar and UP have between them 128 million poor people,
over a third of all of India’s poor, and roughly a tenth of the world’s poor.
[TOI p1]
3. Precedence Led Pranab to Tax Foreign M&As, AG told FM that apex
court had upheld retrospective amendments to law in the past: NEW
DELHI : A controversial proposal to tax past cross-border deals in which
the underlying asset is in India was accepted by Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee after Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati ruled the changes
would pass muster even as some policymakers opposed the idea of
retrospective amendments, said a person privy to the development. [ET
p1]
4. India may vote against Lanka over war crimes : New Delhi : Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in the Lok Sabha that India is
inclined to vote in favour of a UN resolution against Colombo over alleged
war crimes has placated the UPA’s ally DMK. But if India does this, it
could signal a big change in India’s stand in the world body.[HT p10]
5. With ‘regret’, PM hands over Trivedi’s head to Mamata : New Delhi : In
what has put a big question mark over the UPA government’s ability to
“bite the bullet” on its plan to cut fertiliser and petroleum subsidies, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh today yielded with “regret” to Trinamool
Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and let her replace Dinesh Trivedi with
Mukul Roy as the new railway minister.[IE p1]
6. TMC walks out before key vote, but SP stays with government : New
Delhi : UPA ally Trinamool Congress today walked out of the Lok Sabha
ahead of a crucial vote on a BJP amendment to the President’s address
on the issue of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC).[IE p3]
7. 6 candidates for 2 RS seats in Jharkhand : Ranchi : Six candidates
are in the fray for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand. The
Congress has fielded acting state chief Pradeep Balmuchu and JVM has
put up its secretary Praveen Kumar. JMM has fielded Delhi-based lawyer
Sanjiv Kumar, Shibu Soren’s counsel in the Shashi Nath Jha murder
case.[IE p5]
8. Lokayukta notice to Govt. over provisional certificate for illegal
colonies : New Delhi : Delhi Lokayukta Manmohan Sarin has issued a
show-cause notice to the Delhi Government seeking a clear answer as to
whether provisional regularisation certificates could have been granted to
unauthorised colonies without verification of their existence or any kind of
scrutiny.[The Hindu p2]
9. Workload increasing, RSS expands top team : Nagpur : The RSS has
added two more Sahsarkaryawahs to its team, both from the younger lot
of front leaders and one of them a new face. Six other new faces have
also come in at various senior positions. Suresh Chandra has replaced
Madan Das Devi as Pracharak Pramukh (head of full-time volunteers’
force). Chandra was earlier Sahpracharak Pramukh.[IE p5]
10. In Mukul Roy, PM gets a minister he had said no to : NEW
DELHI:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday accepted Trinamool
Congress nominee Mukul Roy as the next railways minister. In July last
year, Singh had reportedly rejected Roy for the same post.[HT p10]
11. Trinamool, SP save the day for govt in LS : New Delhi: The
government prevailed in the Lok Sabha on Monday, defeating the
opposition’s amendments to the President’s address with an overt and
indirect help from the Trinamool Congress, SP and BSP but will be
required to marshal all its strength in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday where
it is precariously placed.[TOI p14]
12. Mamata’s pet projects face axe : NEW DELHI: Will replacing Dinesh ith
loyalist Mukul Roy Trivedi with loyalist Mukul Roy at the railway ministry
and rolling back fare hikes come back to haunt TMC boss Mamata
Banerjee? For, the railways will hardly have any financial muscle to fund
Banerjee’s dream projects in Bengal.[HT p1]
13. Centre gives report to SC on NTRO scam : New Delhi: The Union
government on Monday submitted in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court
an action taken report (ATR) on the Comptroller and Auditor General’s
(CAG) findings about alleged irregularities in purchase of intelligence
equipment by the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO).
[TOI p10]
14. SC to re-examine relief for Lalu in DA case : New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday agreed to examine Chhattisgarh government’s unusual
request — to reconsider its two-year-old judgment giving relief to RJD
chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi in a disproportionate assets
(DA) case while holding that a state government was barred from filing
appeal in a case investigated by the CBI. [TOI p13]
15. Jaya clears the decks for Kudankulam : Chennai : The long stand-off
between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the
Kudankulam nuclear plant ended on Monday with the state cabinet giving
its approval to clear all hurdles for its early commissioning — a decision
that was followed by a crackdown on anti-nuclear protestors who had held
up the plant’s commissioning for over six months. [TOI p1]
16. Centre should rethink about coal policy: Nitish : PATNA:Bihar chief
minister Nitish Kumar on Monday renewed his demand for a rethink on the
Centre’s coal policy that he said is hurting the state’s ability to provide
electricity to its people.[HT p13]
17. Odisha Maoists ready for talks : BHUBANESWAR: Maoists in Odisha
have announced the names of three mediators to hold talks with the
government on the two Italians that the rebels abducted on Saturday
evening. The Maoists earlier asked the government to respond to their
13point list of demands by the evening of March 20.[HT p1]
18. BJP : Prez address a ‘farewell speech : New Delhi : Attacking the
Manmohan Singh government of “running a minority” government, the
main Opposition BJP on Monday termed the President’s address as a
“farewell speech” by the government.[AA p2]
19. ‘Tainted’ BJP Leader Files Papers for RS : BHOPAL : Four BJP
nominees, including cash-for-votes accused Faggan Singh Kulaste and
former Rajya Sabha vice-chairperson Najma Heptullah, filed their
nomination papers here on Monday for biennial elections to the Upper
House of Parliament. [ET p2]
20. BJP set to lose its deputy leader in RS : New Delhi : BJP’s top
leadership on Monday denied a Rajya Sabha berth to SS Ahluwalia, its
deputy leader in the Upper House, by conceding the fourth seat in Bihar to
its ally Janata Dal (United.)[Pioneer Daily p5]
21. Many unhappy with TDP, Cong choices in Andhra : Hyderabad : The
selection of candidates for the six Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra
Pradesh Assembly proved to be a headache both for the ruling Congress
and the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party as the choice has left many
aspirants disappointed.[Pioneer Daily p6]
22. Three seats for trio in Rajasthan : Jaipur : Two Congress nominees —
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, national spokesman of the party, Narender
Budhania and BJP nominee Bhupender Yadav — are set to win the Rajya
Sabha elections uncontested as only three of them have filed their
nomination papers for equal number of seats.[Pioneer Daily p6]
23. RS Polls: BJP Surrenders to Nitish in Bihar, Fields only 2, BJP
deputy RS leader Ahluwalia loses out; trouble in J’khand: PATNA :
BJP has yielded to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in the Rajya Sabha
polls. After giving the impression that it was on a war path with alliance
partner JD(U), BJP settled for 2 seats, leaving 4 seats for Kumar’s party.
BJP reneged on its claim over a third seat to save the alliance.[ET p2]
24. BJP gives in to JD(U) pressure, denies RS ticket to Ahluwalia : New
Delhi: BJP on Monday gave in to pressure from its ally Janata Dal
(Uunited) and backed down from its demand of fielding the party’s full
share of candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Bihar and
Jharkhand. The concession led to a denial of ticket to BJP’s deputy leader
in the Upper House S S Ahluwalia for another term. [TOI p14]
25. BJD likely to clinch all Odisha seats : Bhubaneswar : With the filing of
nominations for the March 30 Rajya Sabha election in Odisha being over
on Monday, the outcome of the polls is now a foregone conclusion. Ruling
BJD’s two candidates Dillip Tirkey and Rabi Mahapatra are certain to be
elected to the Upper House of Parliament on the party’s unassailable
strength in the State Assembly.[Pioneer Daily p4]
26. No contest for three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan : Jaipur :
There will not be a contest for the three Rajya Sabha seats from
Rajasthan as only two candidates from the ruling Congress and one from
the Bharatiya Janata Party filed their nominations here on the last day for
nominations on Monday.[The Hindu p5]
27. BJP backs NRI as Independent for Upper House polls : Ranchi:
Springing a surprise, the BJP on Monday extended support to an
independent NRI candidate for the Rajya Sabha election instead of
nominating someone from the party on the last day of filing nomination.
The move is surprising because one of the two seats in the Upper House
that will fall vacant on April 2 belongs to the BJP. [TOI p14]
28. Yeddy Puts Gun to BJP Head : NEW DELHI : Former Karnataka chief
minister BS Yeddyurappa increased pressure on his party, BJP, to
reinstate him at the earliest. After transporting 55 loyal MLAs to a resort in
the outskirts of Bangalore, two days ahead of the presentation of the state
budget, Yeddyurappa fielded a rebel candidate, BJ Puttaswamy, for the
month-end Rajya Sabha elections. BJP reacted to Yeddyurappa’s
armtwisting by suspending Puttaswamy from the party . [ET p3]
29. BJP says be patient, BSY may force issue : New Delhi : With former
chief minister BS Yeddyurappa digging in his heels, closeted with at least
50 legislators at a resort in the outskirts in Bangalore, the BJP central
leadership might be forced to reinstate him as the Karnataka chief
minister.[HT p11]
30. Rajnath raises NH-24 issue in Lok Sabha : New Delhi:Ghaziabad MP
Rajnath Singh took up the problems faced by commuters on National
Highway 24 in the Lok Sabha on Monday. He blamed the highways
ministry for not starting work to widen the congested stretch in Ghaziabad
which witnesses massive traffic jams everyday. [TOI p7]
31. Uttar Pradesh minister’s son goes missing : BIJNORE (UP):The son of
newly sworn-in Uttar Pradesh Minister Bhagwati Sharan Gangwar has
reportedly been missing for the past two days, police said on Monday.
Gangwar’s son Atul (35) went missing from an ashram situ ated on the
UP-Uttarakhand border last Saturday, SP Mahesh Mishra said.[HT p10]
32. RS polls: Another Cong-Trinamool war brewing : KOLKATA: West
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed displeasure
at the Congress putting up a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections in
West Bengal, saying that the party could not win without the support of the
Left Front.[HT p10]
33. Mulayam Happy with UP, Not Joining UPA , Why join the central
government when it has only about a year or so left, asks leader:
LUCKNOW : Samajwadi Party supremo has ruled out joining the UPA
government at the Centre, shortly after his party voted against a BJPsponsored
amendment to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha. [ET
p2]
34. SP Votes With Govt to Defeat Oppn Amendments to Motion of
Thanks : NEW DELHI : The government on Monday defeated
Opposition’s amendments to the motion of thanks on the President’s
address in the Lok Sabha with the help of the Samajwadi Party which
voted against the amendments. The Trinamool Congress and BSP
abstained from voting. The motion was subsequently adopted by the Lok
Sabha.[ET p2]
35. UP gets new DGP, over 50 officers transferred : Lucknow : Ambrish
Chandra Sharma, a 1977 batch IPS officer, Monday took charge as UP’s
new Director General of Police. Till now, he was Director General of Dr BR
Ambedkar Police Academy at Moradabad.[IE p6]
36. Poor poll show: Karat in party’s line of fire : New Delhi : The defeat in
UP may not have resulted in a churning in the Congress or BJP, but there
has been some finger-pointing in the CPM, which, not unexpectedly, drew
a blank in the elections. And in the line of fire is general secretary Prakash
Karat himself.[IE p6]
37. Congress Yet to Sort Out Uttarakhand Problem, 11 MLAs refuse to
take oath despite Cong high command’s best efforts: NEW DELHI :
Ahead of chief minister Vijay Bahuguna’s cabinet expansion on Tuesday,
the crisis in Uttarakhand Congress continued with 11 MLAs refusing to
take oath despite Congress high command’s best efforts. [ET p2]
38. Rawat supporters skip nomination : DEHRADUN:Despite chief minister
Vijay Bahuguna’s claim that sulking union minister Harish Rawat had
come around, 11 legislators from the latter’s camp on Monday did not
attend the nomination of Congress candidate MS Mehra for the Rajya
Sabha poll.[HT p13]
39. Porngate: Clean chit for two MLAs : Bangalore: Of the three former
BJP ministers facing allegations of viewing porn clips in the Karnataka
assembly, only one is likely to face action while the other two may be let
off for lack of evidence. A probe committee, set up by assembly speaker K
G Bopaiah, has reportedly found enough evidence that merits action
against Laxman S Savadi, according to sources. [TOI p14]
40. Gadkari survey helps BJP decide shortlist, Navratra Date For
Releasing Candidate List: New Delhi: While Delhi State Election
Commission has begun accepting nominations for the municipal polls,
BJP’s election committee held two meetings to finalise its list of 272
candidates on Monday. The party, which controls MCD, is planning to
release the final list of candidates on the first day of Navratras — March
23. [TOI p4]
41. NCP eyes rival rebels : New Delhi: The Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP), which has two councillors in the present MCD, is banking on
former councillors and MLAs, and dissidents from other political parties to
better its toll in the upcoming MCD elections.[TOI p4]
42. Model code in force, but BJP continues to clear projects : New Delhi:
Despite the model code of conduct being in force, the BJP-led MCD still
seems to be in a hurry to clear developmental projects. Several projects
that include the construction of roads, school buildings and drains were
cleared during a MCD standing committee meeting on Monday. [TOI p4]
43. Observers to pick the best in Congress : NEW DELHI: To select the
best possible candidates for the upcoming municipal elections, Congress
Party has appointed 24 party observers to gauge the “winnability“ of each
candidate proposed by seven election committees.[HT p7]
44. Two parties stake claim to ‘cycle symbol in municipal elections : New
Delhi : The State Election Commission has kept in abeyance the decision
on allotment of the “cycle” symbol to the Samajwadi Party in Delhi till after
the process or filing of nominations for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
gets over by March 26.[The Hindu p4]
45. Six candidates file nominations for MCD polls : New Delhi : The
process of filing of nominations for elections to the 272 wards of the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the three newly constituted Corporation
began on Monday with the issue of a notification by the State Election
Commission.[The Hindu p4]
46. Nitish remark on Biharis rattles Sheila : New Delhi: Disapproving of
her Bihar counterpart’s remark that the city will come to a halt if Biharis
stop working, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday wondered why
such statements were being made as people from across the country live
here. [TOI p5]
47. Sheila photo on EC website, BJP cries foul : New Delhi: The Delhi
state election commission (SEC) has decided to remove the photograph of
chief minister Sheila Dikshit from its website. The decision was taken after
BJP demanded immediate removal of the photograph as it was a violation
of the model code of conduct. The Delhi government’s website —
www.delhigov.nic.in — is the only link to SEC’s website. [TOI p7]
48. Sikh riot: CBI to file reply on Tytler : New Delhi: A trial court on
Monday sought the CBI’s reply by April 30 to a 1984 anti-Sikh riot victim’s
claim that there was enough material to proceed against Congress leader
Jagdish Tytler but the CBI had “deliberately” given him a clean chit. [TOI
p3]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
49. SC notice to Gujarat on summon to Modi : NEW DELHI: The Supreme
Court on Monday issued notices to Gujarat Government and Nanavati
Commission on a petition seeking a direction to the latter to summon Chief
Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 riots.[HT p17]
BUSINESS NEWS
50. DGCA summons Mallya, KFA risks losing flying permit : New Delhi :
The fate of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) hangs in the balance as the aviation
industry regulator, DGCA, is considering the cancellation of its operating
permit.[HT p1]
