Lucknow, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee(PAC) of Parliamenty and former BJP president Dr Murli Manohar Joshi today held the Centre responsible for the devaluation of Indian currency and said the wrong policies of the UPA-II was leading the country into financial crisis. "The Centre has lost its path to control the financial crisis and the scams in the country are responsible for the devaluation of the Indian currency," he added. Addressing a press conference here, Dr Joshi said now Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was also holding the international financial crisis responsible for the devaluation of the currency after assuring the country for past six months that the situation in under control. "Government should discuss the financial situation of the country in Parliament and the people of the country should know the real fact behind the crisis," he said. Demanding that the exports of the country should increase as the foreign reserve of the country is fast decreasing, Dr Joshi said that in no way the farmers of the country should suffer due to the financial crisis in the country. Talking about the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar ...
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New Delhi, Reacting to former President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam's statement that the Lokpal Bill will only fill jails, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and social activist Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said there is a need for a strong legal tool to combat graft. "What is missing in India today, is a strong legal tool of which people are very afraid and there's a high surety of punishment and their speedy justice and there is a recovery of stolen money. That is what is missing today," Bedi told media here. "Remember what Dr. Kalam is saying is right. He is talking about generation next. You do need a generation next of better school children with value based education. But what you do with an epidemic of corruption, which is existing. So, what you do with those who are not children, but who are men and women who have committed corruption and who living on corruption money and who are showing the richness. And it's corruption stolen from common man's money. So, I think what we are talking about is a top-down and bottom-up approach," added Bedi. Bedi further pressed for having special courts so that the perpetrators could be booked. "We know that they (lawmakers) are ...
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New Delhi, Evading posers on who will be the next presidential candidate, former President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam has said patience needs to be exercised on the matter. "Let us wait for sometime, please ask me after some time," Kalam told media here. His remarks come at a time when political parties are holding meetings to arrive a consensus on who will be next president of India. Recently, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shahid Siddiqui Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Shahid Siddiqui on Monday welcomed Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's suggestion that the president of the country should be a non-political person, and said his party would definitely back Dr. Kalam if there is a consensus on his name. Siddiqui said Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had proposed the name of Kalam to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002, and added that his party would like to see the renowned nuclear scientist return to Rashtrapati Bhavan. "The name of Dr. Abdul Kalam is also being suggested by many groups and parties. Mulayam Singhji had proposed his name in 2002 to Atalji (former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee), and Atalji accepted that and Kalam Sahab ...
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New Delhi, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), V. Narayanasamy, on Friday played down Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu's remark that reforms are unlikely before the 2014 elections, saying India is looking forward in spite of the economic breakdown in the whole world. Narayanasamy said the UPA Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is trying its best for development in the country. "Our government is trying its best under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh for the purpose of development in this country. But one thing you will have to appreciate in spite of the total economic breakdown in the whole world, India is looking forward whether it is the banking sector, the infrastructure development, whether it is foreign investment, which are coming to our country, we are going on the development path," he said. Narayanasamy further said the government respects the views of Basu. "He has given his views, we also respect his views. But I am telling from our side, the government side, several financial reforms, and also implementing the rural development scheme, the urban development scheme," said Narayanasamy. "We are ...
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New Delhi, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday refused to apologize to Cabinet minister Virbhadra Singh arguing that he had only stated facts published in newspapers. Kejriwal instead asked Singh to apologize to the people of Himachal Pradesh and said that threatening him of a lawsuit would not help. Singh had demanded an apology and threatened to file a defamation suit against Kejriwal for naming him among the 14 ''corrupt'' Cabinet ministers in the UPA government. "I have only presented the facts, there is nothing wrong. My conscience does not allow me to apologize with the fear of a defamation case against me. I do not think I have committed any mistake for which I should apologize. Rather you should say sorry to the people of Himachal Pradesh," Kejriwal wrote in a letter to Singh. Kejriwal added that Singh's name had cropped in several other scams and he should apologize to the public for this. "You have also included my name in that list. However, it is evident that your information in this regard is sketchy and not correct," the minister had said in his letter. "I, therefore, suggest that you tender an unconditional apology for maligning my name and ...
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New Delhi, With an eye on the Gujarat assembly election due at the end of the year, Congress is preparing to chip away at chief minister Narendra Modi's development plank by challenging the "vibrant Gujarat" slogan. Congress on Tuesday attacked the CM's style of governance and his development model, saying Modi's slogans lacked substance. "The entire concept of vibrant Gujarat is nothing but a very big myth," AICC spokesman Manish Tewari told TOI. He added that the myth needed to be discarded in the interest of the people of Gujarat. Slamming the BJP government in the state, Congress said the truth was far from what was being claimed on human development indices, growth and even inflow of FDI in the state. "The focus will be on exposing the truth," Tewari said. Congress's state unit is reworking its strategy, attacking Modi's development claims instead of concentrating on slamming him for the 2002 communal riots. Congress's new game plan saw leader of opposition in Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil's pointing to a CAG report that criticized Gujarat government for bad management and corruption in internal security. "Before giving any advice to the central government, the CM ...
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Ingredients : 2 tomatoes 1 carrot 1 orange a few drops of lemon juice 3 drops saccharine or 2 pills saccharine 2 pinches salt crushed ice for serving Method : Chop the tomatoes and carrots into big pieces. Put the orange segments and ½ teacup of water. Blend it with all the remaining ingredients in a liquidizer and strain. Serve it with lots of crushed ...
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New Delhi, Narendra Modi's penchant for turning any praise from the Centre into a political weapon against Congress has the Centre tread with care. Rural development ministry has granted CM Modi an additional Rs 100 crore for good work in "drinking water and sanitation" but exercised caution to underline that Gujarat is among the seven states who are being rewarded. The letter from RD minister Jairam Ramesh to Modi mentions that Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tripura and Tamil Nadu have utilized 60% of their funds under 'national rural drinking water programme', prompting the Centre to make additional allocations for the coming year. In contrast, the letters to other CMs are direct, stating "since your state has performed well, I have decided to give an additional allocation of Rs 98.20 crore (Tamil Nadu)". The reward is part of RD's drive to distribute "unspent" money in the current financial year among performing states instead of returning them to the finance ministry. Sources said the precaution taken in correspondence with Gujarat was typical of Congress's compulsions as well as Modi's guile, made more sensitive by December polls. With an ...
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New Delhi, Former TRAI Chairman Nripendra Mishra on Thursday told a special CBI court that the telecom regulator did not know if availability of 2G spectrum in 2007 was "limited" and added it had no "authentic information" about it. "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) did not have any authentic information regarding availability of the spectrum in 2007 as this subject matter is dealt with by the Department of Telecom (DoT). TRAI was not aware about the limited availability of the spectrum," he told Special CBI Judge O P Saini. During his cross-examination by Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra's counsel, Mishra said TRAI had written to DoT for the details of spectrum availability "perhaps" in 2007-08. "It is correct that information on availability of spectrum was not in public domain at that time. It is wrong to suggest that TRAI had authentic information about the availability of spectrum during my tenure as its chairman," he said. He also said after TRAI's August 2007 recommendations "there was a spurt in the number of applications (for the 2G licences). However, the actual status of applications was in the DoT," he added. Mishra, who was TRAI chairman between ...
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New Delhi, The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday said the government has taken a number of steps to increase literacy, ramp up higher education particularly in science and engineering, impart skills to young citizens and develop vocational education. Speaking at the Centenary celebrations of the Oxford University Press India here, Dr. Singh said: "India has a large number of young people hungry for education, skills and training and this number is growing in leaps and bounds. It is a challenge as well as an opportunity for us to equip them with the skills they need to find productive, gainful employment and a means to a better future." Stating that India can fuel the engines of growth of the global knowledge economy, Dr. Singh said: "If we can achieve what we have set out to do, then we can create a huge asset pool in this new knowledge based world." "But for this the world has to remain open to the flow of such talent and skills. It is for this reason that India seeks a multilateral rule-based regime for the movement of not just intellectual property but also knowledge embodied in natural persons," he added. Dr. Singh said the present challenge is to ...
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New Delhi, The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will pay a three-day visit to South Korea beginning on Saturday to strengthen strategic partnership and economic cooperation. Following the bilateral visit to South Korea, Dr. Singh will attend the second Nuclear Security Summit scheduled to take place in Seoul on March 26 and 27. Interacting with the media here today, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai pointed out that the main objective of the Nuclear Security Summit process has been high-level attention on the global threat posed by nuclear terrorism and the measures that are required to prevent terrorists and other non-state actors from gaining access to sensitive nuclear materials and technologies. "While nuclear security is a national resposibility there is scope for international cooperation. The IAEA has a central role in strengthening the international nuclear security framework," said Mathai. "The Seoul Summit is intended to take stock of progress in implementation of the Communiqué and Work Plan of the Washington Summit as well as agree on new measures that would be reflected in the Summit Communiqué. A number of countries are expected to speak on steps ...
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New Delhi, BCCI president N Srinivasan denied any rift within Indian team saying there is no such issue as he is in constant touch with the team management. Srinivasan tried to downplay the issue of rift between Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and opener Virender Sehwag over fitness of senior cricketers and team selection. "We are in constant touch with the management. However, we have not asked for any report in the matter," said Srinivasan. Earlier in the day, reports suggested that Dhoni and Sehwag stood divided over the team selection ahead of the Sri Lanka match of the tri-series. Reports said that both the players provided their playing eleven before the start of the match on Tuesday. While Dhoni wanted Rohit Sharma to play against Sri Lanka, stand-in skipper Sehwag was keen to play with three senior players. Earlier on Tuesday after crushing defeat to Sri Lanka, stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag took a jibe at MS Dhoni for suggesting that senior batsmen were being rotated because they were slow movers on the field. Reacting to Dhoni's comments that the trio of Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar were "slow fielders" and that playing them ...
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New Delhi, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was on Tuesday issued notice by the Supreme Court on a CBI appeal challenging the Madras high court verdict, which had quashed a case, registered against her for allegedly receiving an illegal remittance of US $3 lakh in 1992. While issuing notice to the Tamil Nadu CM, a bench of justices Altmas Kabir and S S Nijjar, however, refrained from staying the September 30, 2011 judgement of the Madras high court, delivered on a plea by Jayalalitha for quashing the FIR against her. The case of the CBI is that Jayalalithaa had received a remittance of three lakh US dollars in 1992 through a demand draft issued by banker's trust company in New York, drawn on ANZ Grindlays bank, St Helier Jersey. According to the CBI, the receipts of such a huge money was part of an illegal transaction, which was being probed. Jayalalithaa was the chief minister of the state at the time of the alleged offence. The high court had quashed the proceedings against Jayalalithaa on her plea that that there was an inordinate delay in the investigation and trial. The CBI, in its appeal, however, has defended the delay on the ground that the ...
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Ahmedabad, Chief ministers of Tripura and Uttarakhand on Sunday joined the anti-NCTC chorus, taking to 12 the number of opposing states, even as their Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi accused the UPA of "attacking" the country's federal structure. With the Centre being accused of taking a "unilateral" decision, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni said the campaign against terror should be fought jointly and not be politicized. The Centre had no desire to infringe on the states' rights, she said. The Left Front-ruled Tripura's CM Manik Sarkar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the proposal to set up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), saying the "unilateral" order would only create "misunderstanding". He said it was "unfortunate and surprising" that the NCTC order which dealt with security, an issue closely related to states, had been issued without proper consultations. "Considering that 'Public order' and 'Police' is a state subject under the Constitution of India, this action of the MHA amounts to encroachment of the states' powers." The Tripura CM said that the need of the hour was for the states and the Centre to cooperate, but ...
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New Delhi, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has forwarded the complaint registered by the Election Commission against Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for 'appropriate action'. "The President has taken note of the Election Commission's letter and forwarded it to the PMO for appropriate action," said the Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson. The Election Commission sought the 'immediate and decisive' intervention of President Patil last night after it charged Khurshid with "improper and unlawful" defiance of its orders under which he was censured for promising sub-quota for minorities. The Election Commission told President Patil that Khurshid's action could 'vitiate free and fair polls' in Uttar Pradesh and that it was 'perturbed because the undermining of its Constitutionally-mandated duties has come from the Law Minister who has direct responsibility to uphold and strengthen the ECI rather than to denigrate it'. The Election Commission had earlier censured Khurshid for his remarks on sub-quota for minorities, and said he violated the election code of ...
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Ahmedabad, The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has exonerated chief minister Narendra Modi from the charges of engineering the 2002 anti-Muslims riots in the state and concluded that they were `` a spontaneous reaction'' to the killing of 59 Ram Sevaks in Godhra on February 27, 2002. The SIT said there was no link between different incidents of violence in the Godhra carnage aftermath, ruling out the possibility of a larger conspiracy behind the communal violence across the state's 18 districts in its final report submitted to a metropolitan court on Wednesday. The report is based on a probe carried out on the petition of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri widow, Zakia Jafri, that alleged a larger conspiracy. Jafri was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre during the riots in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002. The SIT concluded that it found no evidence to establish the role of the state machinery in the communal carnage, thus exonerating all accused in Zakia's petition. The panel's findings have effectively cleared names of former minister Maya Kodnani, senior VHP leader Jaideep Patel, DySP K G Erda and former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi. The ...
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It’s finally official. The taxpayer in Gujarat will pay for Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s Sadbhavana Mission, his campaign of fasts for communal harmony and brotherhood with a strong political flavour. The Indian Express has learnt that the General Administration Department planned for expenses related to the Mission as early as in November, passing two government resolutions instructing all department heads, district collectors and authorities to debit these costs as “accidental expense” under the government’s exigency account number “8000”. The Government Resolution says, “The bill should mention in red ink — ‘Contigency fund sanctioned under government memorandum’... The expense will be later on transferred to supplementary budgetary demands under the head of ‘Sadbhavna Mission related programme (un-planned) expense’ and will be placed in the upcoming budget session for the approval of the assembly. District Collectors will be liable to answer any audit queries pertaining to their districts.” The budget session of the Gujarat Assembly begins on February 23. The government did not respond to attempts to know how much was being spent and ...
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New Delhi, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday said that India's economy is expected to grow by 7 to 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal year ending March. Inaugurating the two-day Chief Secretaries conference here, Dr. Singh said: "The latest data show that our economy grew at the rate of 8.4 percent in 2010-11. This was a creditable performance when seen in the background of a crisis-ridden world economy. But, growth in the current fiscal year is likely to be lower, between 7 and 7.5 percent in a large measure due to the continuing uncertainty in the global economic environment." Asserting that inflation was a persistent problem during the course of the last year, particularly regarding food items, Dr. Singh said: "Our government undertook several measures to ease the supply constraints that were a cause for rising prices. This coupled with the policy of monetary tightening that the Reserve Bank adopted has led to a continuous decrease in inflationary pressure in primary food articles in recent weeks." "The overall inflation has also eased. But, monetary tightening together with a difficult global economic environment, particularly the lingering Euro Zone ...
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Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court will not direct the Nanavati-Mehta commission to summon chief minister Narendra Modi and question him about the 2002 Gujarat riots. Civil rights organization Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) had filed an application demanding that Modi be called by the commission for cross-examination. A bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and Sonia Gokani rejected the application and upheld the November 2009 order by a single judge. The bench observed that the decision to summon any person was left to the quasi-judicial body's discretion. JSM wanted that Modi, three of his secretaries, politicians and senior cops be cross-examined on the basis of the call records that IPS officer Rahul Sharma had submitted. The call details show that the secretaries were in constant touch with those accused in the 2002 riots even as the violence was on. JSM has alleged complicity of the chief minister's office in the 2002 riots. The Nanavati-Mehta commission, formed by the state government to investigate the riots, had rejected JSM's plea in 2009 saying it had not found substantial evidence to summon Modi. The secretaries-Tanmay Mehta, OP Singh and Sanjay Bhavsar-too were not ...
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Hyderabad, Sharing his support on innovation in Technology former President Dr APJ Adbul Kalam today underlined the need to bring in newer technology in healthcare sectors. Participating at the launch of 'Victus', Sout Asias first Femtosecond Laser Platform in Maxivision Eye Care Hospital here, he said, 'I have always maintained that eye care should be considered as priority healthcare in our country and ‘Defect free vision for all’ should be our mission. ''Innovation does not only provide benefits in terms of its performance, but makes a leap in the benefits to the cost ratio as well. I am contended and pleased to be part of such a milestone event, where India is the preferred country, within South Asia to bring in this innovative eye care technology'', Mr Kalam said. 'I am sure this technology will bring in the much needed change in eye surgeries across the country', Mr Kalam added. Being the only one chosen from Asia for clinical trial using the platform and also to be first to possess the technology commercially, Dr Kasu Prasad Reddy, Co-Chairman Medfort Maxivision Group overwhelmingly acknowledged the technology and said, 'I am extremely glad to bring this ...
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