NEWS IN BRIEF – OCT 25, 2011
1. US, UK, 3 others issue travel advisories against India, Tourism Minister Protests, Says It’s Scaremongering:
New Delhi: One after another, five countries — US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — have issued advisories against travel to India during the festival season. The ostensible reason for the caution is terror threat at this time, but the Indian government isn’t impressed. It fears the advisories will hit tourism and says terror shouldn’t be used to create a scare about visiting India. [TOI p1]
2. Pak took security data from chopper :
New Delhi : Indian security has been breached in the sensitive Siachen Glacier-Aksai Chin-Ladakh-Kargil sector as Pakistan Army downloaded the GPS coordinates of all helipads from the army helicopter that strayed across the Line of Control (LoC) into Skardu region on Sunday morning. The Indian Cheetah helicopter along with the crew was allowed to return by Pakistan government later in the day.[HT p1]
3. Making PC No.2 in Cabinet will Thwart 2G Probe: Advani :
BHUBANESWAR : Senior BJP leader LK Advani on Monday criticised
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for directing that either Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee or Home Minister P Chidambaram should remain in
Delhi to look after the day-to-day affairs of the government in his absence.
[ET p3]
4. Late Diwali? 2G accused may get bail on Nov 3, CBI Doesn’t Oppose
Plea Of 5 Indictees: New Delhi: Freedom from the confines of Tihar jail
may not be a distant dream for 2G scam accused DMK MP Kanimozhi
and four others, with the CBI on Monday requesting the special CBI court
hearing the case to “consider the bail pleas of these five accused”.[TOI
p1]
5. CBI Doesn’t Oppose Bail for Kani Agency not in favour of granting
bail to Shahid Balwa & Raja’s Secy : NEW DELHI : Rajya Sabha MP
Kanimozhi Karunanidhi will have to spend Diwali behind bars after a Delhi
judge said he would decide on her bail plea on November 3, even though
her bail application was not contested by the CBI. [ET p1]
6. Reliance Tel moves HC seeking quashing of charges in 2G scam :
New Delhi: After a Delhi court framed charges against it in the 2G
spectrum scam case, Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) on Monday moved the
Delhi high court for quashing of charges, saying there was no material to
prosecute it. [TOI p12]
7. ‘Ensure Congress returns to power’, Bury Differences: Sonia To
Cadre In U’khand, Punjab: New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi
raised the bar for partymen in pollbound Uttarakhand and Punjab, saying
the party must bury all differences to win the two states because of the
situation in which they are being held. [TOI p16]
8. Ulfa-Govt Peace Talks Begin Today : GUWAHATI : The first round of
formal talks between banned militant outfit Ulfa and the Centre will take
place in New Delhi on Tuesday. A six-member team led by chairman
Arabinda Rajkhowa left for New Delhi on Monday. [ET p3]
9. ‘Hizbul chief provided HC bombers’ : New Delhi: In the first pointer to a
Pakistan hand in the September 7 Delhi high court blast, Wasim Malik, the
alleged main conspirator in the bombing, has told NIA sleuths that Hizbul
Mujahideen chief Syed Salahudin gave the goahead for the attack and
even provided two bombers for the operation. [TOI p1]
10. ‘Gang of 4’ behind campaign against my team, says Hazare : Pune:
Anna Hazare has hit out against the “gang of four” in the UPA
government, who he said were opposed to the Jan Lokpal bill and carrying
out a systematic “character assassination” of the Team Anna members.
[TOI p11]
11. House panel rejects enemy property bill, Says Draft Law Favours
Heirs, Ignores Tenants’ Interests: New Delhi: In a setback to the
government, the controversial enemy property bill — seen to benefit heirs
of Raja of Mahmudabad’s vast properties — has been unanimously
rejected by Parliament’s home standing committee that has called for a
recast of the proposed law. [TOI p15]
12. Delhi High Court Stays Summon Against Rewati Raman, Court asks
Delhi Police to submit CDs of cash-for-vote scam sting operation
NEW DELHI : The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a trial court order
issuing summons to Samajwadi Party MP Rewati Raman Singh to appear
as an accused in 2008 cash-for-vote scam case.[ET p2]
13. HC Grants Bail to Amar : NEW DELHI : The Delhi High Court has
granted bail to ailing Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh in the 2008 cash-forvotes
case. The court cited humanitarian grounds for granting bail. It
restrained Singh from leaving the country and asked him to surrender his
passport before the trial court hearing the cash-for-vote case. The high
court also ordered him to pay a personal bond of . 50 lakh and two
sureties of the same amount. [ET p2]
14. BJP unhappy as no relief in sight for partymen : New Delhi: BJP on
Monday refrained from commenting on the Delhi high court granting bail to
former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in the cash-forvote scam, but
regretted that its members who were complainants in the case were still in
jail. [TOI p12]
15. BJP-BJD ties tense, says Advani : Bhubaneswar :While admitting that
his party’s relations with the BJD “have become more tense”, BJP leader L
K Advani said today that he did not rule out the possibility of an alliance
between the two parties in the future.[IE p2]
16. Lokayukta Probe Against Karnataka Minister : BANGALORE : The
BJP government in Karnataka faced fresh embarrassment after one more
minister faced probe for alleged illegal denotification of land. The Special
Lokayukta court on Monday directed the Lokayukta police to investigate
and file a report on allegations of land grab and illegal denotification
against industries minister Murugesh Nirani.[ET p2]
17. Nirupam’s Pro-migrant Stand has no Takers : MUMBAI : Pro-migrant
comments by Congress’s north Mumbai MP Sanjay Nirupam on Monday
drew strong reactions from Opposition Shiv Sena and forced Chief
Minister Prithviraj Chavan to clarify the party’s position on the issuee. [ET
p3]
18. Congress playing divisive politics, says Uddhav Thackeray : Mumbai
: Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said here on Monday
that the Congress party, swamped by scams, was playing divisive politics
to break Marathi votes.[HT p13]
19. 20% of IPS officers fail to declare their assets : New Delhi: Nearly
one-fifth of IPS officers in the country — including police chiefs of Delhi,
Bihar, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh — have not declared their annual
immovable property returns (IPR) for 2010 despite three deadlines given
to them by the home ministry. Their action will now put them in the
negative list of vigilance clearance for future postings. [TOI p9]
20. Bedi says will pay ‘balance’, here are 18 more fake bills : New Delhi
:Four days after The Indian Express reported how, in at least 12
instances, Team Anna member Kiran Bedi raised inflated air fare invoices
to overcharge her host NGOs and institutions, Bedi announced today that
the “balance amounts” were being returned “forthwith”.[IE p1]
21. Raja too can offer to return money : Cong : New Delhi : Taking a dig at
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi for offering to return the excess money
she had charged for her air travels from her hosts, Congress general
secretaries B K Hari Prasad and Digvijaya Singh on Monday said former
telecom minister A Raja, who is currently in jail in connection with the 2G
spectrum allocation scam, could also offer to return the money.[IE p3]
22. CBI to Share Jagan’s Details with Bangalore I-T Dept: HYDERABAD :
The CBI, which is investigating the case pertaining to YSR Congress
president Jaganmohan Reddy, said it has no objection in sharing details of
his assets with the incometax department in Bangalore.[ET p2]
23. Graft : J-K BJP to flag off 4 yatras : Jammu : Preceding BJP leader L K
Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra, the party’s state unit will undertake four yatras
simultaneously — between November 2 and 11 — to “apprise people of
the rampant corruption and the deteriorating law and order situation in the
state”.[IE p4]
24. NCP ties up with Panthers Republican Party : Mumbai : With former
ally Republican Party of India joining hands with the Shiv Sena-BJP
combine for the coming elections to urban local bodies across the state,
the Nationalist Congress Party on Monday announced a pre-poll alliance
with another Dalit party, the Panthers Republican Party.[IE p4]
25. In a first, Left Front to contest 100 seats in UP polls : Lucknow : For
the first time, the Left Front — comprising CPI, CPM, RSP and Forward
Bloc — has decided to jointly contest at least 100 Assembly seats in the
2012 elections in Uttar Pradesh.[IE p5]
26. Cong hopes charming Priyanka will help win UP : New Delhi : The
Congress is counting on “overpowering charisma and magnetism” of
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to fetch results for the party in next year’s crucial
assembly elections in UP. A longside Congress general secretary Rahul
Gandhi’s proposed high-pitch campaign, Congress leaders believe
Priyanka’s involvement will boost the party’s chances in UP.[HT p8]
27. Rs 5,000 cr power scam in UP : Lucknow : The BJP on Monday
alleged a Rs 5000 crore power purchase scam in UP Power Corporation
Ltd. BJP national secretary and chairman of party’s Scam Expose
Committee, Dr Kirit Somaiya, said he was ready for any action if his
charges were not found to be correct. He posed 11 questions to Chief
Minister Mayawati on the subject.[Pioneer Daily p6]
28. Bhatta-Parsaul gang rape case against 16 cops : Lucknow: The Noida
police on Monday registered a case against 16 PAC personnel for
allegedly gang-raping a woman in Bhatta-Parsaul on May 6 this year,
when farmers of the twin villages had clashed with the police over land
acquisition. [TOI p1]
29. Census-2011 data not yet available for UP civic polls : Lucknow :
While the State Election Commission in preparing for the civic elections in
Uttar Pradesh, the Census Directorate is yet to make available the 2011
Census data which would enable the State Government to issue the
notification on October 31 in compliance with the October 19 directive of
the Allahabad High Court.[The Hindu p7]
30. UPA govt begins spadework for Muslim quota : New Delhi : The UPA
government is firming up plans to give reservation in jobs and education to
underprivileged Muslims at the national level, a move likely to shore up the
ruling Congress’ support base among the 150-million community ahead of
the 2014 polls. [HT p9]
31. Muslim Body Quotes Price for Votes, Demand for reservation for
Dalit Muslims and Mayawati’s support to this may queer pitch for
Congress in poll-bound UP: NEW DELHI :With major parties in Uttar
Pradesh vying for the largest share of Muslim votes in the coming
assembly polls, community leaders have begun bargaining hard for a
religionbased quota. In what could make matters difficult for Congress,
Muslim leaders have made the introduction of a bill to grant quota for Dalit
Muslims in Parliament a pre-condition for their support in the 2012 state
polls. [ET p3]
32. Sheila hints at another hike in power tariff : New Delhi: Chief minister
Sheila Dikshit on Monday indicated that there may be another hike in
power tariff in the city, and the recent 22% hike granted to discoms BSES
Radhani, BSES Yamuna and NDPL may not be enough to financially
sustain the utilities. [TOI p3]
33. Chhath holiday fuels BJP poll dream : New Delhi: With an eye on MCD
polls, the BJP is planning to woo the fast growing Poorvanchali vote bank
in the national capital this Chhathpuja slated for November 1.[HT p5]
34. ABVP justifies scrapping of essay : New Delhi : There are 300
versions of the Ramayana, but A K Ramanujan chooses to quote five
examples that are bound to hurt our sentiments.[The Hindu p4]
LEGAL/CRIME NEWS
35. Key Accused in Pandya Murder Case Re-arrested : AHMEDABAD:
Asgar Ali, the prime accused in the murder of former Gujarat minister
Haren Pandya, was re-arrested after his release from Sabarmati Jail in
connection with two other cases pending against him.[ET p2]
36. Shivani case: Contempt notice to SC advocate : New Delhi: The Delhi
high court on Monday began contempt proceedings against a Supreme
Court lawyer, who levelled serious allegations against a sitting HC judge
for acquitting four accused in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case. [TOI
p3]
37. HC: No bail to vandals until they pay for property loss : Kochi: Taking
a serious view of destruction of public property during agitations, the
Kerala high court on Monday ordered that an amount equivalent to the
loss must be deposited by the accused as a condition before any bail plea
is moved. [TOI p9]
38. Enough evidence to act against Gujarat top cops : New Delhi :For the
first time since the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, a confidential report
by a Supreme Court appointed lawyer has recommended registration of
criminal cases against senior police officers posted in the state then. [HT
p8]
39. Cornered Noida authorities to knock supreme Court door : Noida :
The cash-starved Noida and Greater Noida Authorities find themselves in
a soup following the Allahabad High Court verdict directing the authority to
pay additional over 60 per cent compensation to the farmers affected by
the faulty land acquisition policy.[Pioneer Daily p1]
BUSINESS NEWS
40. RBI to Increase Rates Today to Tamp Down Inflation, Excessive
spending by govt and slide in rupee neutralising tight monetary
policy: RBI report : NEW DELHI : The Reserve Bank of India will raise
interest rates again on Tuesday to control price rise despite slowing
growth, but its job may get complex due to government’s policies that are
pulling the economy in the opposite direction and the wobbly global
markets, indicates a report from the central bank. [ET p1]
EDITORIAL/OPINION
41. Draw the right line : Abhijit Banerjee : In the old days we used to be
good at things like poverty measurement. We may not have been
particularly good at actually helping the poor but we were ahead of the
world in figuring out how to find them.[HT p10]
42. Don’t judge the fudge : Uber policewoman Kiran Bedi has fudged a few
bills and put a bit aside into her own NGO. Not done, says the government
and everyone who is not part of Team Anna. Ms Bedi, it would appear,
travelled the way the rest of us do in economy class and then asked her
donors to cough up for business class. [HT p10]
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
43. Whistleblower No. 1 shuts down operations, for now, Blames Funds
Crunch On US: London: Whistleblower website WikiLeaks on Monday
said it was temporarily stopping publication of exposes to concentrate on
economic survival in the face of a blocade by US financial companies.
[TOI p1]
44. Muslim dedicates son to Sikh guru, Two-Year-Old Becomes 20th
Generation Member Of Guru Nanak’s Family: Nankana Sahib
(Pakistan): A Muslim family that donated 19,000 acres of land to Guru
Nanak before becoming his first disciple outside the Guru’s family is
prepared to dedicate a two-and-a-halfyear-old 20th generation member to
the revered Guru. [TOI p11]
