NEWS IN BRIEF – DEC 10, 2011
1. 89 Die In Kolkata Hospital Hellfire, Helpless Patients Suffocated By
Toxic Fumes: Kolkata: One of Kolkata’s better-known super-specialty
hospitals turned into a gas chamber in the early hours of Friday after a fire
in the basement pumped toxic fumes through the centrally-air-conditioned
building. At least 89 of the 164 patients have died and over 50 were
injured, some of them seriously. Three staff at the Advanced Medicare &
Research Institute (AMRI) hospital in Dhakuria are among the dead. [TOI
p1]
2. It’s a criminal offence, says Mamata : Kolkata : The West Bengal
government will use all its resources to give justice to the people and act
against those responsible for the “killing” of so many people, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Friday, after a fire ravaged a city
hospital claiming several lives. “It is a criminal offence; it is a crime,” she
said.[The Hindu p10]
3. Oppn stalls House, wants Krishna to go, BJP Seizes Opportunity To
Get Even With Cong On BSY’s Exit: New Delhi: The opposition
disrupted Parliament on Friday demanding the resignation of foreign
minister S M Krishna after the Karnataka Lokayukta registered a case
against him in connection with illegal mining during his tenure as chief
minister. [TOI p9]
4. Lokpal draft overlooks Aug resolution, Panel Includes Only 1 Of 3
Issues Flagged: New Delhi: The parliamentary panel on Lokpal has
envisaged setting up a nine member anti-corruption ombudsman with
constitutional status that will have supervisory powers over its
investigating and prosecuting authority but will not include within its ambit
redressal of public grievances and lower bureaucracy. [TOI p9]
5. ‘This Lokpal will not be effective’ : New Delhi : The recommendations
made in the Lokpal Bill report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Personnel and Law and Justice will not create an institution of Lokpal that
can effectively deal with corruption, Team Anna member Prashant
Bhushan has said.[TOI p12]
6. Opp, Team Anna slam Lokpal report : New Delhi : After the FDI in retail
fiasco, Government and Opposition are headed for a major showdown on
the Lokpal Bill. On the day the standing committee tabled its report on
Lokpal in parliament, the BJP blasted its recommendations and
Gandhian Anna Hazare decided to go on warpath against the
Congress.[Pioneer Daily p1]
7. I’ll fight toothless lokpal, says Anna : NEW DELHI:The lokpal bill draft
made public on Friday tried to strike a balance between opposing views,
but could not impress Anna Hazare, who is determined to launch a fresh
agitation.[HT p1]
8. BJP sees govt bid to kill Lokpal Bill, ‘It’s Been Made Complex To Foil
Passage’: New Delhi: Strongly disagreeing with the parliamentary
committee’s report on the Lokpal Bill, BJP claimed that the report was
unnecessarily made legally complex and expressed apprehension that the
exercise was an attempt to make passage of the legislation difficult in this
session. [TOI p21]
9. 162 BJP MPs Give Declarations on Black Money : NEW DELHI : In an
attempt to step up pressure on the government to take action on the black
money issue, BJP MPs on Friday gave declarations to presiding officers of
both Houses that they do not possess illegal wealth abroad. [ET p3]
10. Jaitley: Report made needlessly complex : New Delhi: The main
opposition party BJP has accepted the Team Anna’s invite to a one-day
protest over the Lokpal issue. Its prominent leaders are expected to share
the platform with civil society activists on Sunday. [TOI p9]
11. Krishna must go, demands BJP : NEW DELHI: The Opposition demand
for resignation of external affairs minister SM Krishna for his alleged role
in a mining scam led to repeated disruptions of both the Houses of
Parliament forcing their adjournment till Monday.[HT p9]
12. Lokpal report has no credibility: Team Anna : New Delhi: A fresh faceoff
between the government and Team Anna looks imminent, with the civil
society faction on Friday seizing upon the notes of dissent by members of
the Parliament’s standing committee on Lokpal to question the sanctity of
the report as a guideline for defining powers and jurisdiction of the
proposed anti-graft watchdog. [TOI p1]
13. Cong core group meets on Lokpal : NEW DELHI:The Congress top
brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president
Sonia Gandhi, on Friday held consultations in the backdrop of plans by the
government to bring the Lokpal Bill in Parliament next week and Team
Anna’s opposition to certain provisions.[AA p2]
14. Unitech, Chandra to Seek Separate Trial : NEW DELHI : Mobile service
provider Unitech Wireless and the managing director of realty firm
Unitech, Sanjay Chandra, will file petitions in the special court that is
hearing the 2G case, seeking a separate trial, executives aware of the
development said.[ET p4]
15. A double for Cong in UP: RLD deal, Rasheed Masood in pocket : New
Delhi : On A day the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) finalised their
seat-sharing agreement for next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections,
the ruling party at the Centre looked set to get a big boost to its prospects
in the state with senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member
Rasheed Masood deciding to switch over to the Congress. SP supremo
Mulayam Singh Yadav was instrumental in fielding Masood as the third
front’s vice-presidential candidate in 2007.[IE p2]
16. Ajit Singh meets Rahul, Seals poll pact : New Delhi : The Congress
and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have firmed up a poll pact for the assembly
elections in UP. RLD chief Ajit Singh and Congress general secretary
Rahul Gandhi met on Friday to give the final touches to the electoral
arrangement. RLD chief’s son and party MP Jayant Chaudhary was also
present in the meeting.[HT p9]
17. Ajit may be new civil aviation minister : New Delhi: The Congress’s
alliance with western UP based Rashtriya Lok Dal is expected any time
now, with Ajit Singh likely to get a plum Cabinet portfolio. [TOI p11]
18. Adarsh can open new bank account : CBI in apex court : New Delhi :
Scam-tainted Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society of Mumbai will now be
able to open a fresh account in a nationalised bank after the CBI gave the
green signal in the Supreme Court on Friday.[IE p9]
19. Cong Seals a Deal with Ajit’s RLD, Likely to part with 42-45 seats;
Singh to be accommodated in Union Cabinet: NEW DELHI : The
Congress on Friday wrapped up its seat-sharing talks with the Rashtriya
Lok Dal (RLD) for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh polls. The political deal
between the two parties was worked out at a meeting between Rahul
Gandhi and Ajit Singh.[ET p2]
20. Report ‘Wrangled in Legalisms’: BJP, Looks like a lawyer’s draft
devoid of political & administrative sensibilities: Jaitley: NEW DELHI
: BJP, which dissented with the parliamentary panel’s recommendations
on the Lokpal bill, on Friday said there appeared to be an attempt to put
off the legislation’s passage by entangling the report in “legalisms”. [ET
p2]
21. Congress website hacked, Sonia’s profile page defaced : NEW
DELHI: Amid raging debate over the government’s proposal to crackdown
on ‘unacceptable” internet content, hackers broke into the Congress
Websites on Friday and defaced party chief Sonia Gandhi’s profile page
with objectionable material.[HT p9]
22. File FIR Against Vasundhara Raje, Court Asks Police : JAIPUR : A
local court in Jaipur has directed the police to lodge FIR against former
chief minister Vasundhara Raje on charges of misusing her chair for the
illegal allotment of government land to her son Dushyant Singh in Dholpur
during 2005-06 when she was the chief minister. [ET p3]
23. 1st peace party list for 40 for U.P. out : Lucknow : The Peace Party on
Friday released a list of 40 candidates for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh
state Assembly elections. Peace party president Ayub will contest the
Khalilabad seat while Independent legislator Akhilesh Singh will be the
candidate for the Rae Bareli seat. Former BSP MLA Jitendra Singh
Babloo will contest the Bikapur seat.[AA p2]
24. Mayawati only CM of UP set to complete full five year- term :
Lucknow : As the UP Assembly elections draw closer, it is being hotly
debated whether Rahul Gandhi’s charisma or Mulayam Singh Yadav’s
political skills would succeed in removing BSP from power when the
country’s cow-belt, Uttar Pradesh, goes to polls. But whatever be the
result, one thing is sure that Mayawati will take the trophy for being the
only Chief Minister of UP to complete the full five-year term of the office
uninterrupted.[Pioneer Daily p2]
25. Thakurs move away from BSP on poll eve : LUCKNOW: In its efforts to
win back Brahmins, the Bahujan Samaj Party is now finding it difficult to
keep the Thakurs in good humour. The action initiated by the BSP against
some of its Thakur leaders has further worsened the party’s relationship
with the Thakur community while the active participation of Congress
leader Digvijay Singh and BJP leader Rajnath Singh in UP politics is
making Thakurs veer towards these two parties.[AA p2]
26. Mahipal Maderna’s Custody Extended in Bhanwari Case : JAIPUR : A
CBI Special Court has extended the custody of sacked Rajasthan minister
Mahipal Maderna and his aide Parasram Bishnoi for three days. The CBI
had arrested the duo on Friday last week in the Bhanwari Devi missing
case.[ET p3]
27. Uphaar victims kins recall 1997 tragedy : New Delhi : Every flame that
laps up a life reminds Neelam Krishnamoorthy of her two children whom
she lost to the Uphaar Cinema fire 14 years ago. Krishnamoorthy and all
the others who have been fighting for justice all these years point out that
such accidents happen due to the laxity in implementing the laws.[HT p4]
28. SC sets aside MLA’s election : New Delhi : The SC on Friday set aside
the election of Athagarh MLA Ramesh Rout in Orissa, faulting the
returning officer’s 2009 decision to reject the nomination papers of BJD
candidate and four-time winner Randendra Pratap Swain. [TOI p11]
29. BJP slams Sreedharan’s MCD remark : New Delhi: Metro chief E
Sreedharan’s views on the functioning of MCD and its trifurcation have not
gone down well with the BJP. In an exclusive interview to TOI on
Thursday, Sreedharan had questioned the need for a municipal body for
Delhi as the capital’s area is small.[TOI p6]
30. CBI seeks transfer of Chautala cases : New Delhi : The CBI filed an
application in a court here on Friday seeking the transfer of the three
disproportionate assets cases against former Haryana Chief Minister Om
Prakash Chautala and his sons which are being heard in different courts
to a single court.[The Hindu p6]
31. With eye on polls, civic body rejects all tax hikes : New Delhi :
Fearing fallout ahead of the MCD polls with the proposal of additional
taxes and introduction of new taxes, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) on Friday decided to reject all tax hikes including introduction of
congestion charges and sanitation tax in the city from April 2012
onwards.[Pioneer Daily p3]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
32. 11 acquitted in 2008 Jaipur blasts case : Jaipur : A Fast Track
Sessions Court here on Friday acquitted 11 of the 14 persons arrested
from Kota, Baran and Jodhpur in the aftermath of the May 2008 Jaipur
serial blasts. The court did not find any evidence that could connect the
accused with the alleged crime.[The Hindu p5]
EDITORIAL/OPINION
33. House of Mirrors : Barkha Dutt : At the heart of India’s body politic lies
the country’s Parliament. It is meant to pump blood and life into the veins
of public discourse. Or rather, this is how it was once conceived -in a burst
of idealism and good intention.[HT p12]
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
34. Zardari had mild stroke, face paralysis, Pak Prez Stable, May Be
Taken To London From Dubai For Advanced Treatment: Islamabad:
Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari’s has suffered a mini stroke and facial
paralysis and may be shifted to London for advanced treatment, a
Pakistani daily reported on Friday. [TOI p26]
