NEWS IN BRIEF – MAR 31, 2012
1. EC scraps RS elections in Jharkhand : New Delhi/Ranchi: In an
unprecedented move, the Election Commission countermanded the Rajya
Sabha polls in Jharkhand on Friday. In a late-night development, the EC
requested the President to “rescind notification issued for the RS poll in
Jharkhand”. [TOI p1]
2. Cash-for-seats rocks Jharkhand RS polls : NEW DELHI / RANCHI:
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday wrote to the President for
countermanding of the Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand. This followed
the seizure of R2.15 crore from the car of Independent candidate RK
Agarwal’s relative and allegations of horse-trading. The money was seized
by income tax officials from the vehicle of Jamshedpur-based
businessman Suresh Agarwal hours before the voting.[HT p1]
3. RS polls: BJP U-turn, backs JMM nominee : NEW DELHI: Days after
announcing that its legislators would abstain from voting in the Jharkhand
Rajya Sabha election in the wake of the Anshuman Mishra fiasco, the BJP
finally turned around to support Sanjeev Kumar, the candidate of its ally
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), with which it is running a coalition
government in the state.[HT p10]
4. BJP votes for Sanjiv to save JMM from vertical split : New Delhi : An
SOS call from ally JMM, which feared a split in its ranks under influence of
money power, prompted the BJP to bail out its partner from a “possible
defeat’ in the Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand. In voting for JMM’s
nominee Sanjiv Kumar, the BJP took a complete U-turn from its earlier
position of abstaining.[Pioneer Daily p5]
5. CAG raps Guj govt for 17,000cr losses : Gandhinagar: The comptroller
and auditor general (CAG) reports for 2009-10 and 2010-11, placed
before the Gujarat assembly on the last day of the budget session on
Friday, tore into the Narendra Modi government on the issue of corruption
by pointing out irregularities causing a cumulative loss of nearly Rs 17,000
crore. [TOI p1]
6. Def min official, wife found dead at home: New Delhi: A deputy
director in the defence ministry and his wife, a classical dancer, were
found dead in mysterious circumstances at their home in Hudco Place,
south Delhi, on Friday afternoon. [TOI p1]
7. General mum on bribe amount : NEW DELHI: In a formal
communication to the CBI on Friday, army chief general VK Singh
confirmed that he was offered bribe by Lt Gen Tejinder Singh but refrained
from specifying the amount. General Singh said he will give more details
soon.[HT p10]
8. ‘Can’t respect Parliament that harbours criminal MPs’: Ghaziabad:
Team Anna member, Arvind Kejriwal, hit back at the privilege notice
served on him for ‘insulting Parliament’ in Ghaziabad on Friday saying that
he can’t respect the institution which harbours 162 MPs with criminal
backgrounds. [TOI p8]
9. SAD, BJP MPs demand abolition of death penalty : New Delhi : The
Shiromani Akali Dal, which had recently vociferously launched a campaign
for clemency to death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, on Friday
demanded abolition of death penalty terming it the ultimate denial of
human rights.[Pioneer Daily p5]
10. Parliament Insulted by Those Inside, Not Outside: Kejriwal, Team
Anna member says there are some MPs one cannot invite to a
wedding: NEW DELHI : Team Anna leader Arvind Kejriwal remained
defiant in his reply to privilege notices served to him for insulting
Parliament. He asked how he could respect a House which had 162 MPs
with ‘criminal background’. [ET p2]
11. Only 45% of MPs’ funds used during UPA-I, House Panel Also
Unearths Inadmissible Projects, Doubtful Expenditure, Dubious
Payments: New Delhi: In a sharp indictment of the MPs’ local area fund
scheme, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found that of
the Rs 17,891 crore made available to district authorities between 2004-05
and 2008-09, only Rs 8,084 crore, or around 45%, was actually utilized.
[TOI p9]
12. Sack Antony for Tatra scam cover-up: BJP: New Delhi: BJP on Friday
demanded defence minister A K Antony’s resignation, accusing him of
seeking to cover up for three years the alleged scam in the purchase of
“sub-standard” Tatra trucks for the Army. [TOI p9]
13. CBI registers case, searches 4 places : New Delhi :As the CBI today
registered a case on the supply of all-terrain Tatra trucks for the Army, the
government said Defence Minister AK Antony had sanctioned a probe into
“a case relating” to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) on February 21
this year.[The Tribune p1]
14. Antony should resign : BJP : New Delhi : The BJP on Friday demanded
the resignation of Defence Minister A K Antony, charging him with
patronising corruption, as it intensified its attack on the government over
the alleged bribe offer to the Army Chief for clearance of the Tatra truck
contracts.[IE p9]
15. BJP Guns for Antony on Ifs & Buts, Says he took no action on
Ghulam Nabi Azad’s letter on Tatra; Congress dismisses BJP’s
demand for defence minister’s head: NEW DELHI :BJP has demanded
defence minister AK Antony’s resignation, saying that if it was clear he
was ‘shielding corruption’, he had no right to remain in power. This is the
first time that the party has gunned for Antony since the controversy broke
out over the Army chief ’s allegation that he was offered bribe for
clearance of substandard vehicles for the Army and had told the defence
minister about it. [ET p2]
16. Antony Acted on Azad’s Letter: Defence Ministry: NEW DELHI :
Defence Minister AK Antony on Friday said he had acted on complaints
against defence public sector firm BEML a day after receiving complaints
of irregularities forwarded to him on behalf of Congress president Sonia
Gandhi in October 2009. [ET p2]
17. CBI files Tatra FIR, names PSU officials, UK company, Agency To
Probe Post-1997 Supply, Quizzes Ravi Rishi: NewDelhi:The CBI on
Friday registered an FIR into the Tatra case, alleging a criminal conspiracy
between officials of a defence PSU and a UK-based firm. The CBI will look
into the supply of Tatra trucks to the Army post-1997 — after an MoU was
signed between BEML, the PSU which supplies Tatra trucks to the Army,
and Tatra Sipox (UK) — as they had come across irregularities in the
supply only after that year.[TOI p18]
18. No probe against Lt Gen Suhag, says CBI: New Delhi: The CBI on
Friday said that it would not investigate the complaint forwarded by Army
chief General V K Singh against serving Lt Gen Dalbir Suhag, and that the
agency has returned this complaint. [TOI p16]
19. ‘Devote CMs’ meet to NCTC’, Didi Asks PM To Restrict Agenda To
Discussing States’ Views: New Delhi: Upping her ante further,
Congress’s restive ally, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has now
demanded that the meeting of CMs scheduled for April 16 should
exclusively focus on the contentious issue of the jurisdiction of the
National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). [TOI p12]
20. ‘Judicial Accountability Bill a farce’: New Delhi: A day after the
government managed to get the Judicial Accountability Bill passed in the
Lok Sabha, Team Anna attacked the government for reneging on its
promise to bring judicial corruption within the ambit of the law. [TOI p12]
21. ‘Pressure Centre to Clear CST Dues’, Bihar deputy CM’s letters to 17
states may be a spoiler on GST plan: NEW DELHI : The confrontation
between the Centre and states is likely to intensify with the Empowered
Committee of state finance minister on GST writing to chief ministers of 17
states to pressure the Manmohan Singh government to clear their CST
compensation dues till the new taxation system is introduced, or,
alternatively, restore CST rate to 4%. [ET p3]
22. Gadkari writes to FM over duty on jewellery : NEW DELHI:BJP
president Nitin Gadkari has written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee
over the “injustice“ shown to the gems and jewellers in the budget. “The
new levy imposed on jewellery would lead to wastage of time in preparing
of documents and fear of inspector raj since most of the traders are not
educated,“ Gadkari said.[HT p10]
23. Morani, Behura exempted from court appearance : New Delhi : The
Special Court hearing the 2G spectrum scam case on Friday granted
exemption to former Union Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura from
court appearance on April 11 and 18 so as to be able to appear before the
Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)..[The Hindu p4]
24. Anna now part of school syllabus: NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare’s
campaign for a jan lokpal bill is now part of school curriculum.
25. Several CBSE-recognised schools here have included a chapter on the
anti-graft activist in their general knowledge textbooks for Classes 7 and 8.
Some have given him the flattering epithet of `India’s second Gandhi’.[HT
p1]
26. UP CM Hits Austerity Path: LUCKNOW : Surprising even his officials,
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has issued orders to cut
down the cars in his fleet from 40 to just eight and also ordered the
specialised hospital operating in his official residence to shut down. [ET
p2]
27. Big food brands hide harmful effects: CSE, ‘Claims Of Zero Trans
Fats Untrue’: New Delhi: Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) has alleged that leading food manufacturers are guilty
of “large scale misbranding and misinformation” by claiming that their food
products contain zero trans fats even though tests show heavy doses of it.
[TOI p1]
28. Tribunal puts POSCO green signal on hold : New Delhi :Days after
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured South Korea that efforts were
under way for an early implementation of the POSCO project in Orissa,
fresh uncertainty has emerged for the steel giant’s plans. [IE p3]
29. 14 State Opposition MLAs Suspended: MUMBAI : The Speaker of
Maharashtra assembly Dilip Walse-Patil suspended 14 opposition MLAs
from Maharashtra assembly for one year on Friday. The MLAs were
suspended for performing a ‘Ganesha Maha-Arti’ inside the house while
assembly proceedings were on.[ET p2]
30. CAG slams BSY govt for irregular land allotments: Bangalore: The
Comptroller and Auditor General has criticized Karnataka BJP strongman
B S Yeddyurappa’s administration for flawed acquisition and allotment of
land for industry. The CAG’s report, tabled in the assembly on Friday,
came a day after a Supreme Court-appointed panel recommended a
probe into alleged kickbacks received by a family firm of the former CM in
return for grant of a mining lease. [TOI p9]
31. Porngate: Ex-minister guilty, 2 others get clean chit: BANGALORE:
The Karnataka Legislature Committee, which probed the infamous porn
viewing scandal has indicted a former minister and recommended his
“admonition“ but gave a clean chit to two others while proposing a ban on
the use of mobiles in the House.[HT p10]
32. ‘Porn was playing, but minister wasn’t watching’ : Bangalore: “The
minister was reading a government order even as a porn clip played out
on his mobile phone. And he had no intention of watching porn.” This was
an observation of a BJP panel in its report which indicted former minister
Laxman Savadi, accused of viewing a porn clip during proceedings in the
state legislative assembly on February 7. [TOI p11]
33. Poll fever in city, CM catches flu,Sheila Won’t Meet Visitors: New
Delhi: At a time when the poll fever is catching up in the city, chief
minister Sheila Dikshit is down with flu. The CM’s office on Friday issued a
statement saying she is having sore throat and has been advised
complete rest during this weekend. [TOI p3]
34. Rawat loyalist wins Rajya Sabha poll : Dehradun : Mahendra Singh
Mahara, a close confidant of Union Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs & Agriculture Harish Rawat, fielded by the ruling Congress got
elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday beating Anil Goyal of the opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party by eight votes in elections held at the Uttarakhand
Vidhan Sabha.[The Hindu p5]
35. Poll symbol row: EC intervenes: New Delhi: The tussle between
Samajwadi Party and J&K Panthers Party over the bicycle as poll symbol
turned bitter on Friday with the latter accusing the Delhi State Election
Commission of favouring SP. [TOI p8]
36. Symbolic victory for SP, Panthers Party: NEW DELHI: The Jammu and
Kashmir National Panthers Party and Samajwadi Party (SP) are still at
loggerheads over the `cycle’ symbol. Both parties want the `cycle’ to be
their symbol in the upcoming MCD elections. On Friday, the State Election
Commission (SEC) gave the final nod to both the Panthers Party and SP
to use `cycle’ as their party symbol, but only in areas where they are not
competing against each other.[HT p6]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
37. Govt can’t Arbitrarily Allot Public Wealth: SC : NEW DELHI : The
Supreme Court has ruled that the government and its agencies cannot
alienate public property or issues licences in favour of selected individuals
or companies at its sweet will.[ET p3]
38. Kazmi seeks bail, hearing today: New Delhi: Journalist Syed
Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, arrested for his alleged role in the February 13
bomb attack on an Israeli embassy car in the city, appealed for bail on
Friday. The bail plea, filed in the court of chief metropolitan magistrate
Vinod Yadav, will be heard on Saturday. [TOI p7]
39. Punjab Minister Gets 5-year Jail Term, Bibi Jagir Kaur found guilty of
abduction, wrongful confinement, forceful abortion and conspiracy
in murder of daughter Harpreet: CHANDIGARH : Punjab minister Bibi
Jagir Kaur was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a CBI court in
Patiala on Friday for her role in the mysterious death of her daughter
Harpreet Kaur in 2000. [ET p3]
40. Court to pronounce verdict in Purnia MLA’s murder today : PATNA:
The verdict of the CBI court in the case of the killing of Purnia MLA
Rajkishore Keshri will be pronounced on Saturday. The alleged killer is a
school principal, Rupam Pathak, who is said to have stabbed the four-time
legislator of Purnia, with a kitchen knife in his residence in Purnia’s Sipahi
tola, 280 km east of Patna on January 4, 2011.[HT p10]
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
41. Fai gets 2 yrs in jail for illegally working for ISI : Virginia :Kashmiri
separatist Ghulam Nabi Fai was on Friday sentenced to two years of
imprisonment by a court here for “conspiracy to defraud the US” by
concealing the transfer of at least $3.5 million from Pakistan’s ISI to fund
his illegal lobbying efforts on Kashmir.[HT p10]
42. Suu kyi sees irregularities but vows to go ahead with by-elections :
Yangon : As Myanmar gets ready for historic by-elections in a climate of
unprecedented political openness, the country’s tallest democratic leader,
Aung San Suu Kyi, has highlighted irregularities in the process, and said
that the elections could not be considered ‘free and fair’. However, in a
display of the fine balance she is seeking to strike, the Nobel Laureate
said that her party was ‘determined’ to take the process forward.[The
Hindu p1]
