Howrah News Service - Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World

Nehru, Indira could see real, fake loyalty: Arjun

Sat, 10 May 2008 02:23:00 -0400

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Friday took an indirect dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi by saying that the "yardstick of loyalty in the Congress has become limited these days", while praising Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and even Sanjay Gandhi. Singh, who has already created a stir by his statement that there is no internal democracy in the Congress, said: "Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi had a great ability to recognise loyal people, and could differentiate between real loyalty and fake loyalty."

The HRD minister, collection of articles on whom titled "Mohin Kahan Vishram" (No rest for me) was released Friday evening, said he was a person who was opposed to the Emergency in 1975 "because it was misused".

He said, however, both Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi allowed him to air his views. He said that in 1980 he ran for elections on a Congress ticket and Sanjay Gandhi even campaigned for him despite his criticism against the Emergency.

"I could not have 51 years of public life if I had failed to have the trust of Nehru, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, adivasis, backwards classes of Madhya Pradesh, dacoits of Chambal ravines, Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal and terrorists of Punjab."

Launching the book, President Pratibha Patil said: "Politics is hard life in which private and public life blur." Interestingly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was present on the occasion, did not speak.(IANS)

Anbumani Ramadoss refuses to step down

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:41:00 -0400

New Delhi: Following the Supreme Court order declaring the AIIMS Amendment Act 'unconstitutional' and asked to reinstate P Venugopal as director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said that there was no question of his resignation.

"There is no question of resignation because it was passed by the government and Parliament. This is not a setback for us," Ramadoss told reporters as demands came in from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he should quit office. "We will take a decision after reading the judgment. There is no question of misleading the Parliament. It was decided by the government and then passed by theParliament," the Minister added.

Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H S Bedi declared 'malafide and unconstitutional' the central government law fixing the retirement age of the AIIMS director at 65 years. The Bench said that it was evident that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and the Post Graduate Institute for Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, (Amendment) Act, 2007, which limited the tenure of the directors of the two institutes to a maximum of five years or till they reach the retirement age of 65, was enacted with the sole purpose of targeting the cardiologist.

Ramadoss sacked Venugopal in November 2007 after Parliament passed the law and it received President Pratibha Patil's assent. (IANS)

Modi asks Karnataka electorate to vote for BJP

Wed, 07 May 2008 02:35:00 -0400

Bangalore: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi late Tuesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the forthcoming assembly polls, saying an unstable government in the past was the reason for the crumbling infrastructure in India's silicon hub.

Campaigning for the party's candidates, Modi told a large gathering of people that a decisive vote for the BJP would not only ensure formation of a stable and progressive government, but also decide the future of the country at the national level.

"Though the people of Karnataka voted for the BJP to emerge as the single largest party in the 2004 election, the mandate was not enough to form a government on its own. This time, a decisive vote will enable the party to form the government and be precedence for a similar change at the centre in the next parliamentary election," Modi said in chaste Hindi that was translated in Kannada by the party's state unit leader S Dhananjay Kumar.

He asserted that the BJP would prove poll pundits wrong by securing a clear majority in Karnataka this time, as it did in the December 2007 Gujarat election. He said the Congress was trying to avenge its defeat in his state by threatening the people that his party would turn Karnataka into another Gujarat if voted to power.

"It is regrettable that Congress does not want Karnataka to develop and progress as Gujarat has been doing over the last decade under BJP. By raising the communal bogey and indulging in vote bank politics, the Congress is actually doing disservice to the people of Karnataka.

Referring to the choked roads, traffic snarls and crumbling infrastructure in Bangalore, Modi said a fractured verdict and an unstable government had resulted in urban chaos taking over the garden city due to gross neglect.

"Even a small city like Surat in south Gujarat, which has half the population of Bangalore, boasts of 15km of flyovers and best civic amenities. It is unfortunate a city like Bangalore, which is renowned the world over for its IT and BT (biotechnology) is lagging behind due to apathy," Modi said.

In a special appeal to the young electorate, Modi said the soft stand of the UPA government against terrorists and appeasing of minorities have led to the spectre of terrorism and Maoism to haunt a peaceful state like Karnataka.

In a veiled attack on the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) for betraying the party by not transferring power as agreed upon in October 2007, Modi cautioned the electorate against voting for such parties, which "indulged in rank opportunism and family politics". (IANS)

Lok Sabha adjourned sine die

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:23:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Monday adjourned the house sine die, bringing its budget session to a close four days ahead of schedule.

"The fourth budget session of the 14th Lok Sabha comes to a close today," Chatterjee announced in the house at 2.15 p.m.

The session was to end Friday, according to the schedule.

The union budget and the railways budget for 2008-09 were passed in this session. The highlight of the union budget was the announcement of a loan waiver worth Rs.600 billion for farmers.

Chatterjee said 20 bills were tabled in the house in this session. Five of them were measures replacing ordinances and the most important among them were the Delimitation Bill and the Representation of People Act (Amendment) Bill.

While the Delimitation Bill seeks to redraw the boundaries of the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies based on the changes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes populations in various constituencies, the Representation of People Act has been amended in accordance with the Delimitation Bill.

"In all, 62 reports were tabled and 280 matters were raised in the house," Chatterjee said.

This budget session, which had a 25-day recess, witnessed frequent disruptions by MPs from the opposition benches. "In this session, 28 hours and 30 minutes were lost due to interruptions and walkouts," the speaker informed the house.

During the session, the opposition raised the issue of price rise several times.

However, the controversial India-US civilian nuclear deal and the proposed Women's Reservation Bill were two issues which were conspicuous by their absence - both the matters did not come up for discussion in the lower house.

Somnath Chatterjee retracts decision on MPs

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:35:00 -0400

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today retracted his decision to refer 32 MPs, most of them from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to the house privileges committee for alleged disorderly conduct.

"I will reconsider the decision in right earnest," said Chatterjee after MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) organised a silent protest in the house.

The NDA members put fingers on their lips to protest against the speaker's April 24 decision. The protesting members from the BJP, Shiv Sena and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were joined by those of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The withdrawal followed both Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani assuring the Speaker of full cooperation in smooth running of the House. (IANS)

Bush, Somnath likely to rock Lok Sabha Monday

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:25:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) The Lok Sabha is expected to have a stormy sitting Monday over US President George W. Bush's remarks on the Indian middle class eating well and contributing to the global food crisis, as also Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's move to refer some fellow members to the house privileges committee for defiance of the chair.

The Rajya Sabha will be adjourned after paying homage to Nirmala Deshpande, the noted Gandhian and sitting member of the upper house who died Thursday.

“We will raise the issue of Bush's remarks in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday. It was totally unwarranted,” D. Raja of the Communist Party of India (CPI) told IANS, adding that in the LOk Sabha the Left members would raise the issue Monday.

“The house should condemn such utterances in unison,” Abani Roy of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) said.

Bush was reported to have said in Missouri Friday that there were 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. "That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up," he said.

Speaker Chatterjee also is set to face heat from the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), for referring 32 MPs to the Privileges Committee for making noises in the house defying the chair's pleas to maintain peace.

Since most of the members who drew Chatterjee's ire are from the NDA, the top alliance leaders will meet Monday morning to decide their course of action. The NDA in the past has accused Chatterjee of partiality.

“The NDA leaders will meet Monday to discuss the situation arising out Chatterjee's move. It is a serious development,” said Braj Kishore Tripathi of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), a constituent of the NDA.

NDA sources said the alliance leaders were contemplating three options - boycott of the proceedings, no-confidence motion against the chair, and simply sitting in the house without making any interventions.

“The last option is equivalent to the Gandhian way of protests and disapproval. It has gone down well with the many NDA constituents, while a section of alliance leaders is suggesting boycott of the house till Friday, the last day of the budget session,” a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity, told IANS.

Raja, however, refrained from commenting Chatterjee's decision, saying the matter was related to the Lok Sabha. Raja is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Some Left leaders felt Chatterjee should have opted for some other way to rein in the slogan-shouting members. The NDA now has ammunition to attack him, they added.

“The noisy scenes are expected in the Lok Sabha Monday. There is a need to check the people's credentials at the stage of ticket distribution first ...There were other options to convey the chair's anguish too,” Roy said.

Raj targets north Indians and Big B again

Sat, 03 May 2008 16:34:00 -0400

Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Saturday renewed his campaign against north Indian migrants as well as film star Amitabh Bachchan saying his supporters will not allow them to destroy "the Maharashtrian culture".

"If the government wants to arrest me let them do so, but only Maharashtra Day will be celebrated in Maharashtra," said Thackeray addressing a mammoth rally at the Shivaji Park in central Mumbai.

The estranged nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray justified ridiculing Bachchan's decision to promote Uttar Pradesh. "Since he has lived and flourished in Maharashtra, why can't he promote this state?" he said.

He also questioned the move to construct a girls school in Uttar Pradesh named after Bachchan's daughter-in-law and film star Aishwarya Rai.

Thackeray did not spare Bachchan's wife Jaya for her comments at a press conference in which she had said the only Thackeray whom she knew was Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. He also mocked Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

In January the MNS cheif had criticised the north Indians, especially people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar living on Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashta, on various issues, including performing Chhath Puja, a festival especially popular in Bihar.

His controversial remarks sparked off violence in different parts of Maharashtra between MNS activists and north Indians. MNS activists had barged into a cinema house exhibiting a Bhojpuri movie and damaged taxis sporting Samajwadi Party flags. One man was killed in the violence.

Advani names Munde Maharashtra chief ministerial candidate

Sat, 03 May 2008 16:13:00 -0400

Shendurwafa (Maharashtra), May 3 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Saturday declared party general secretary Gopinath Munde will be the chief minister of Maharashtra if the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance came to power in the forthcoming assembly elections.

Addressing a mammoth rally of paddy growers from eastern Vidarbha in this tiny village of Bhandara district, the party's prime ministerial candidate took everybody by surprise when he said: "The alliance is sure to come to power in Maharashtra and you can trust Munde, as chief minister, to give you complete farm loan waiver, remunerative price for your produce including paddy and freedom from power outages."

He, however, clarified to the press after the rally that Munde was the party's choice for the top post in the state and will take the office only if BJP won more seats than Shiv Sena.

Advani expressed confidence about the party winning a clear majority in neighbouring Karnataka where polls are going to be held this month and coming to power on its own steam.

It was for the first time after Munde's public criticism of the party's "undemocratic" style of functioning and resignation from all party posts last month that Advani, one of the prime targets of his veiled attack, shared a dais with him and the party's Maharashtra unit chief Nitin Gadkari - Munde's other target.

While Gadkari too declared that the party's rank and file would fight the elections together and form the government under Munde's leadership, the latter urged people to oust the "anti-people and anti-farmer" Democratic Front and United Progressive Alliance governments from power in the state and in New Delhi.

Left Front manipulated EVMs to win Tripura polls: Congress

Sat, 03 May 2008 04:42:00 -0400

Agartala, May 3 (IANS) The opposition Congress party in Tripura has accused the Left Front of winning the February assembly elections in the state by manipulating the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"Due to the manipulated EVMs, the result of the election was not the true reflection of the peoples' mandate," Samir Ranjan Burman, president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress, said Friday.

"The state's chief electoral officer, G.S.G. Ayyangar, was the chief architect of the manipulation and the Election Commission failed to ensure a free and fair election," Burman told journalists.

The Congress has demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Burman hinted that the party may file a petition in the Supreme Court.

"Soon after the polls, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president had constituted a three-member technical committee to check whether the EVMs could be manipulated and confirmed that these electronic machines could be manipulated," Congress legislator Sudip Roy Barman said.

Reacting to the Congress allegations, CPI-M spokesman Gautam Das said: "The Congress failed to win seats in the polls even after taking help from outlawed militants and giving money to the voters. Now they are lying."

Said Ayyangar: "In elections the Election Commission had made special arrangements in the modified version of the EVMs to record every event and action to prevent intimidation and other malpractices. These records will remain for the next five years."

CPM keeps Darjeeling issue on back burner for time being

Sat, 03 May 2008 04:34:00 -0400

The West Bengal CPM’s growing anxiety over the ongoing agitation in Darjeeling by the newly formed Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) was reflected in the party’s state secretariat meeting on Friday. For the moment, the CPM leadership has decided to address it after the May panchayat elections.

The GJM, a breakaway faction of Subhas Ghising’s Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), has launched renewed agitation in the three hill sub-divisions of Kalimpong, Kurseong and Darjeeling demanding separate statehood for the Gorkhas. For the past few weeks, GJM activists were not allowing any state organisations in the hills to function.

The CPM’s worry over the GJM agitation has deepened after the Gorkhas attempted to make inroads in the planes of Siliguri sub-division by holding rallies and running campaigns in favour of their demand for separate statehood.

Siliguri is basically a CPM stronghold with Ashok Bhattacharjee, state urban development minister, representing the assembly constituency. But over the past few weeks, the GJM activists have tried to hold rallies in Siliguri town.

In the first week of April, they had organised a rally near ‘Darjeeling More’ and forced the police to resort to lathicharge the activists. The CPM-led Left Front government was forced to set up a judicial commission to probe the incident of lathicharge on the GJM activists.

Veteran Marxist and CPM leader Jyoti Basu also warned after the meeting that the “situation in the Darjeeling hills isn’t good and that tourists should refrain from going there for the time being.” Mr Basu also added that West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was closely tracking developments in Darjeeling.

Mr Basu also said many people had died in the Hills when the GNLF had organised continuous agitation during his tenure as the chief minister. It is also learnt that the CPM state leadership as well as the state administration has taken strong exception to the GJM’s plans to gherao the state administrative buildings at Writers’ Buildings on May 9.