Tuesday, July 28, 1998
|
N A T I O N |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
 |
|
|
Differences surface in Congress NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Congress leadership has taken a dim view of the statement by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, in which he virtually ruled only any immediate move to topple the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. Bus blast: cops sent to Haryana, Punjab NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Delhi police has sent teams to Haryana and Punjab to find clues about the blast in a bus in Delhi yesterday. Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister has said that the blast is part of a ‘diabolical design perpetuated by elements inimical to the security and integrity’ of the country. |
 |
Deputy leads revolt against CM of Goa PANAJI, July 27 — In a dramatic political development, Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred D’Souza today came out in revolt against Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane and sought his removal.
Yamuna
canal breach repaired |
|
MP’s remark on B’desh deportees rocks LS NEW DELHI, July 27 — Deportation of the alleged Bangladeshi nationals by Maharashtra’s BJP-Shiv Sena government from Mumbai today rocked the Lok Sabha with angry Left party, Janata Dal and Muslim League members walking out. Chandumajra, Jain on LS estimates panel NEW DELHI, July 27 — Mr Satya Pal Jain (BJP, Chandigarh) and Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD, Patiala) have been elected to the Lok Sabha Committee of Estimates for the year 1998-99. Jain report ATR to be tabled NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Union Cabinet approved tonight the action taken report (ATR) on the Jain Commission report for tabling in Parliament. Ranga’s statue unveiled in Lok Sabha NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant, today unveiled a bronze statue of noted Gandhian and freedom fighter late N.G. Ranga in the entrance hall of the Lok Sabha lobby. Anti-HIV drug for pregnant women NEW DELHI, July 27 — India will launch clinical trials of the controversial anti-HIV drug “AZT” now found useful in preventing transmission of the deadly virus from pregnant women to newborns. Climbing tower to meet Lieut-Governor NEW DELHI, July 27 — A Councillor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Mr Asif Mohammed Khan, climbed up a tower at Nehru Place near Savitri Cinema in South district, demanding to meet the Lieut-Governor of Delhi. Plea to strengthen Shimla TV station NEW DELHI, July 27 — Ms Urmil Thakur, Himachal Pradesh secretary, urged the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ms Sushma Swaraj, last evening to strengthen the Shimla TV station. Revised pay package for varsity teachers NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Centre today announced a revised higher pay package for teachers of universities and colleges. Govt, hospital staff resume talks NEW DELHI, July 27 — The striking health employees and the government resumed their talks late tonight in a bid to break the impasse over the hike in patient care allowance. |
|||||
 |
Differences surface in Congress From K.V. Prasad Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Congress leadership has taken a dim view of the statement by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, in which he virtually ruled only any immediate move to topple the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. That the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, did not approve of it could be gauged from the statement by party spokesman today that the Congress would not shy away from forming a viable and stable government with the help of like-minded parties. "The Congress party will not shy away from accepting the challenge of forming a viable and stable government with the help of like-minded parties," the party spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi said today. He said the move could come if the present trend of ruling alliance leading the country to chaos and uncertainty continued. However, Mr Jogi said, the timing would be decided by the party. His statement stood in contrast to the opinion of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pawar, who was quoted having said that any attempt to topple the Atal Behari Vajpayee government now would lead to chaos and instability in the country. Refusing to challenge what Mr Pawar stated, Mr Jogi said the Congress would not hanker after power but if the "present trend would lead the country to chaos and uncertainty, we (Congress) will not be found wanting". Another senior leader, Mr Rajesh Pilot also expressed his disagreement with Mr Pawar’s statement. He said the continuance of the present government was harmful to the nation in all respects and that the BJP-led coalition had inflicted colossal damage on the democratic institutions and system of the country. In an interview to a private television network, Mr Pawar had said that the Congress with 141 MPs needs the support of another 16 to 17 parties and doubted if the support would be issue-based. Mr Pawar said the Congress would only act when it was sure to provide a viable alternative. He had also expressed doubts about the nature of support by the Left, particularly CPM stating that the Congress could not be certain if the support would be forthcoming if the party was to take some decision on economy. Mr Jogi said that Mr Pawar had told him that in the interview emphasis was only on the importance of a viable alternative. Asked if the Congress would continue to wait for the government to fall on its own or it would facilitate its exit, Mr Jogi said the decision would be taken by the leadership at an appropriate time. Party sources said senior leaders like Mr Arjun Singh and Mr K. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy were up against Mr Pawar for making a statement that virtually ruled out any attempt to fell the present ruling coalition. Other leaders like Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who had made a statement similar to the one Mr Pawar made is reported to have distanced himself. Mr Pilot’s statement opposing Mr Pawar’s view is also seen as an attempt to keep himself away from any controversy in the wake of reports that he had attended a conclave at Baramati. Mr Pilot clarified that the visit to Baramati (constituency of Mr Pawar) was not political and he had gone there to apprise himself of the problems of farmers and also the cooperative system. As per reports, apart from Mr Pawar and Mr Pilot, the conclave was attended by SJP leader, Mr Chandra Shekhar, who is in the forefront of moves to topple the present government at the Centre. The manner in which Mr Pawar’s statement was refuted today was seen as yet another snub to the Maratha leader by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Mr Pawar’s relations with Mrs Sonia Gandhi are under strain since the upset defeat of Congress nominee Ram Pradhan in the Rajya Sabha elections the Maharashtra. Added to it a known Pawar-baiter, Mr Prataprao Bhonsale was appointed as the Maharashtra PCC chief after Pawar man, Mr Ranjit Deshmukh was axed for the Rajya Sabha debacle.  |
| Deputy leads revolt against CM of
Goa PANAJI, July 27 (UNI) — In a dramatic political development, Deputy Chief Minister Wilfred D’Souza today came out in revolt against Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane and sought his removal. Dr D’Souza is being supported by nine others including Irrigation Minister Dayanand Narvekar and Panchayat Minister Subhash Shirodkar. Dr D’Souza met Governor Lt-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) along with his supporters, who had been camping in a private hotel since last night. Today’s development is a culmination of simmering differences among some of the ministers and MLAs against the Rane government. Dr D’Souza is seeking the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the main opposition party, and the BJP, which has four MLAs in the 40-member House, to form an alternative government. Previously in 1989, Mr Rane had to bow out of office as Mr Churchill Alemao toppled the government with the help of the MGP and backing of the then Railway Minister George Fernandes. Mr Rane’s Congress government has completed three years and six months in office with the support of some MGP MLAs and Independents who joined the party in 1994 after the government was formed. Mr Narvekar, otherwise known to be a sworn political enemy of Dr D’Souza, has joined hands with the latter after serious differences with Mr Rane. The dissidents in the legislature party had given an ultimatum to Mr Rane to resign by this morning failing which, they warned that they would revolt against him. Meanwhile sources said Pradesh Congress president Shantaram Naik, has expelled Dr D’Souza and four others from the party for their anti-party activities, after getting the green signal from the party high command. In the 40-member House, the Congress has 23 members, including the Speaker. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the main opposition party has eight, the BJP four, Independents supporting the government (three) and the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) two. At the Chief Minister’s residence, Mr Churchill Alemao, who is seeking entry into the Congress has directed both his MLAs, Mr Arecio D’Souza and his brother Jochiam Alemao to support Mr Rane. The BJP and the MGP were yet to offer their comments on the developments. |
| Cops sent to Haryana, Punjab to
find clues to ISBT bus blast From Syed Ali Ahmed NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Delhi police has sent two teams to Haryana and one team to Punjab to find clues about the perpetrators of the blast in a Haryana Roadways bus at the Inter-State Bus Terminus in North Delhi yesterday, which killed two persons and injured four. The teams which have gone to Haryana will seek assistance of the state police to investigate the high-intensity blast, which rocked the city nearly six months after an explosion which occurred just opposite the Delhi Police headquarters. The team to Punjab would try and find out whether any instructions had been issued from within Tihar Jail to militants in Punjab to carry out the explosion, police sources said. Although there are some indications that a hard-core militant from Punjab may have masterminded the blast in the bus, the picture would become clear only after information is received from the Delhi Police teams sent to Haryana and Punjab. It is suspected that the bomb was either put in the bus at Safidon in Panipat district from where the bus had begun or at Murthal where the bus halted before it reached Delhi, police sources said. According to the Additional Commissioner of Northern Range, Mr B.S. Brar, explosions in the Panipat area have taken place earlier in which the needle of suspicion pointed towards the involvement of hard-core militants. RDX is suspected to have been used in yesterday’s blast. However, it will be confirmed only after the Central Forensic Scientific Laboratory report comes in. The police said adequate precautionary measures had been taken to prevent such incidents. The Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Police were asked to check the buses at the borders. In another development, Mr Krishanpal Gujjar, the Transport Minister in the Haryana government, visited the spot of the blast and said all Haryana Roadways buses would be checked to prevent such incidents. Meanwhile, only two victims, who were admitted in hospitals, are still undergoing treatment. |
| Delhi blast: Advani blames ISI Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 27 — The Union Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishna Advani, today said that the bomb blast in Delhi yesterday which killed two persons and injured four others, was part of a ‘diabolical design perpetuated by elements inimical to the security and integrity’ of the country over the past few years. The Home Minister who made a statement in the Lok Sabha said there were reports that an outfit of the ISI led by a militant group headed by Zakiur Rehman and Abdul Karim Tunda, had organised previous bomb blasts. However, soon after Mr Advani’s statement several opposition members were up on their feet wanting to know the government’s stand on deportations from Maharashtra, security demanded by Mrs Rama Devi, M P wife of a slain Bihar leader and general crime situation in the Capital. Several members continued to protest and procedural wranglings held up proceedings for nearly 10 minutes with BJP members stating the other issues could not be raised following the minister’s statement. Some Samajwadi Party members protested and staged a walkout demanding the resignation of the Home Minister. Mr Advani, in his brief intervention, said since law and order was a state subject, he would not like to violate Parliamentary traditions by discussing it. However, since law and order of Delhi was under Centre, the same could be discussed. Mr Advani said investigation into the powerful bomb explosion that occurred in a Haryana Roadways bus, was in progress. He said since December 11, 1996 Delhi and its adjoining areas had witnessed as many as 40 blasts including the one yesterday. The Home Minister said the Delhi police had solved 36 bomb blasts incidents with the arrest of 14 suspected militants, including 7 foreign nationals in the past few months. In addition, the Delhi and Hyderabad police had been able to expose Pakistan ISI/Lashkar-e-Toiba network operation in India as a result of which four Pakistan nationals, one Bangladesh national and a key Indian collaborator based in Hyderabad were arrested. A substantial quantity of arms and ammunition including 15 kg of RDX was seized from this gang. This was followed by another breakthrough when the Delhi police on July 10, recovered 18 kg of RDX and sophisticated timer devices from a truck in the Punjabi Bagh area. This led to the arrest of two persons suspected to be Punjab militants, Mr Advani said. |
| India tested H-bomb,says New
Scientist NEW DELHI, July 27 (UNI) — India’s first test at Pokhran on May 11 this year comprised a hydrogen bomb and the yield was closer to 60 kilotonne, it has been confirmed following the release of data collected by 125 seismic stations across the world. There had been scepticism about India’s claim that it had exploded a hydrogen bomb as initial data from the seismic stations had recorded only 25 kilotonne. The confirmation about the near 60 kilotonne yield has been carried by the reputed New Scientist Magazine and sets at rest the controversy whether or not India exploded a thermonuclear device. In Parliament, the government recently described as “erroneous” conclusions that the Pokhran tests did not comprise a hydrogen bomb. The “magazine” said the tests could have had their seismic signals muffled, possibly by “Decouping” the devices-suspending them within caverns in the ground or burying them in sand. In theory, 10 kilotonne of explosive force can be completely hidden in this way. There could be peculiarities in Rajasthan’s geology that may have weakened the signals, the write-up in the magazine says. Sceptics say the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will fail because secret nuclear explosions cannot always be detected. The New Scientist says that the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan appear to prove them wrong. Before dawn on May 11, a seismograph in a research institute outside Washington DC recorded a disturbance deep in the earth on the other side of the world. Over the next few minutes, dozens of other seismographs all over the planet recorded the same event and transmitted their data automatically to the institute — The Prototype International Data Center (PIDC). A computer analysed the signals and gave its interpretation, an event of magnitude 5.0 on the Richter scale under Rajasthan in India. Later that morning, seismologists at the PIDC studied the signals and recognised the event as a nuclear test. Whether the PIDC can actually police the CTBT has become the subject matter of a fierce debate, for it emerged that the seismic monitoring network under trial by the PIDC failed to diagnose India’s tests accurately. In particular, the PIDC failed to detect the second explosion, which India claims yielded between 0.2 and 0.6 kilotonnes. So far the CTBT has been signed by 149 countries since it was agreed in 1996, but to come into force it must be ratified by all 44 nations in the U.N. conference on disarmament that have nuclear reactors. Only 13 nations, including two “bomb” states, Britain and France, have ratified it. The US ratification, as well as being essential for the treaty to come into force, is crucial to encouraging others to ratify. |
| Yamuna canal breach repaired Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 27 — The breach in the Western Yamuna Canal has been repaired and the water supply to the Capital restored. The canal supplies water to the Haiderpur water treatment plant, which caters to one third of the water requirements in Delhi. It provides 200 million gallons of water per day (mgd) against the total supply of 600 million gallons. Army Engineer Corps, which headed the team carrying out emergency repairs on the breach said that the work had been completed. Delhi Jal Board officials said the embankment wall which has collapsed was being strengthened to ensure that it did not break down again. The breach had occurred due to the erosion of temporary diversion channel which is over five years old and was meant to serve its purpose for only a year or two, the Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, said while blaming the Haryana Government for the incident. As the canal lies under the jurisdiction of the Haryana Government, the construction of the duct (for placing the pipes carrying raw water), was to be carried out by Haryana in 1991. Mr Sahib Singh blamed the Haryana Government for going slow in the reconstruction work since the wall where the breach occurred was very weak and needed additional support immediately. The ineffective makeshift wall had been leading to a wastage of at least 160 mgd water earlier also against the 720 cusec of water supplied by the canal, he said. Stating the reasons for the breach, Mr Sahib Singh said that it had occurred as the Haryana Government had failed to construct an aqua-duct over the supplementary drain crossing the water canal. Seven years after the proposed construction was to be completed only the opening for the duct have been carried out. Delhi had reportedly deposited Rs 1.63 crore in two instalments with the Haryana Irrigation Department for the construction. The Haryana Government was demanding Rs 96 lakh to meet the escalated cost of the construction, he said, adding that if they had completed the project within the stipulated time such a need would not have arisen. The residents of Delhi, however, had a harried time as little water flowed through the tap. Even though 700 water tankers had been arranged by the government to meet the needs of the people, the supply was enough to grapple with the demand. Delhiites, who had been facing power shortage for a number of days, were even more agitated to see their taps running dry. This has been coupled with the increasing incidents of crime for the past three weeks. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee is holding a rally tomorrow to highlight the deteriorating law and order situation in the Capital and the BJP-led Delhi Government’s failure in providing the civic amenities to the people of Delhi. The protest rally would be addressed by the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi. Following the bomb blast in Inter-State Bus Terminus yesterday, the venue of the rally has been shifted from Parliament Street to Bhagwan Das Road. |
| MP’s remark on
B’desh deportees rocks LS NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — Deportation of the alleged Bangladeshi nationals by Maharashtra’s BJP-Shiv Sena government from Mumbai today rocked the Lok Sabha with angry Left party, Janata Dal and Muslim League members walking out, even as the Centre assured them that no Indian citizen would be thrown out of the country. Shiv Sena member Prakash Paranjape’s remarks during zero hour provoked the agitated Congress, BSP, Janata Dal and Left party members to storm the well. Opposition members charged the state government with branding Bengali families as Bangladeshis and throwing them out of Mumbai and demanded dismissal of the Manohar Joshi government. They said anybody could go to any part of the country to earn his or her livelihood. During the hour-long pandemonium, ruling and Opposition members had heated exchanges as Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi’s repeated plea for order went unheeded. Although Mr Balayogi told the House that Mr Paranjape had withdrawn his remark, the member continued to say that he had not stated anything unparliamentary. As the members pressed to know the government’s stand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana said Home Minister L.K. Advani would collect information from the state government and make a statement in the House tomorrow. He, however, said those who were staying in the country without any valid documents were "infiltrators". Dissatisfied with the government’s response, members belonging to the Left parties, the Janata Dal and the Muslim League staged a walkout. CALCUTTA: The Calcutta High Court today restrained the Maharashtra Government from deporting alleged Bangladesh nationals to Bangladesh or to any other country. Mr Justice Samresh Banerjee by an interim order also stayed the directive of Deputy Commissioner of Police (1), Special Branch (CID), Mumbai, to deport the alleged Bangladeshis forthwith. He also directed West Bengal Home Secretary to communicate the order to the Maharashtra Government. |
| Chandumajra, Jain on LS estimates
panel Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 27 — Mr Satya Pal Jain (BJP, Chandigarh) and Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD, Patiala) have been elected to the Lok Sabha Committee of Estimates for the year 1998-99. Voting for the 30-member panel was held last week. The term of the committee will end on April 30, next year, a Lok Sabha bulletin said. |
| Jain report ATR to be tabled NEW DELHI, July 27 (UNI) — The Union Cabinet approved tonight the action taken report (ATR) on the Jain Commission report for tabling in Parliament. The Cabinet had considered the ATR last week also and formed the three-member group of ministers (GOM) to approve the ATR. The Cabinet had now cleared the ATR as proposed by the Home Ministry and approved by the GOM. While the way for tabling the ATR in Parliament has now been cleared it is not known immediately as to when it would be done. The Cabinet also approved a minor amendment to the proposed Lok Pal Bill to ensure that when a sitting Judge took over as Lok Pal he resign his post. |
| Ranga’s statue unveiled in
Lok Sabha NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — The Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant today unveiled a bronze statue of noted Gandhian and freedom fighter late N.G. Ranga in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the entrance hall of the Lok Sabha lobby. “By placing his statue here in Parliament House, Acharya Ranga is in his right place as one of the dreamers and creators of a strong and resurgent India,” Mr Kant said after unveiling the statue. “Professor Ranga too was deeply inspired by the silent whirlwind called Mahatma Gandhi,” he said adding, “His values, his ideologies, his purpose were shaped by a generation whose defining feature was the thoughts and actions of the Mahatma.” Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vajpayee and Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr C.M. Balayogi, described Mr Ranga as a great parliamentarian with outstanding capability of debate on different issues. |
| Anti-HIV drug for pregnant
women NEW DELHI, July 27 (UNI) — India will launch clinical trials of the controversial anti-HIV drug “AZT” now found useful in preventing transmission of the deadly virus from pregnant women to newborns. Confirming launch, this year, Additional Director-General of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) J.V.R. Prasada Rao said institutes are already being identified for the trials in Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Pondicherry, and in Manipur and Kerala states. “These centres already have sufficient numbers of HIV-infected pregnant women in hospital,” Mr Rao said. While AZT is useless as a cure because of the rapidity with which HIV develops resistance to it, the drug can temporarily reduce viral load in the mother’s blood, giving the newborn a chance to come into the world uninfected. “It is criminal to use AZT as a cure for HIV because it could lead to rapid development of multi-drug resistant strains.” said Dr Durgadas Dasgupta, consultant at NACO and one of India’s foremost experts on the virus which causes AIDS. AZT is also suspect because it causes several undesirable side-effects which make exposure of the foetus and the newborn to the drug somewhat risky. Putting the newborn on AZT reduces its chances of HIV transmission through breast milk by about 50 per cent, Dr Dasgupta said, adding that unless breasted the child was open to other infections. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which will monitor the AZT trials, recently brought out a complete set of guidelines for the testing of drugs in this country. Results of trials on AZT already conducted in several countries and released at the 12th world conference on HIV/AIDS at Geneva last month indicate that benefits far outweigh the risks, especially when combined with caesarian deliveries. However, activists have sounded caution against the proposed trials and warn against its commercial release without proper precautions and transparency and search for local alternatives. |
| Climbing tower to meet
Lieut-Governor From Our Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 27 — In a desperate bid to meet the Lt-Governor of Delhi,a Councillor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Mr Asif Mohammed Khan, climbed up a tower at Nehru Place near Savitri Cinema in South district demanding to meet the LG of Delhi. He said that he would not come down until the LG talked to him as he wanted to make the Governor aware of problems of the residents of Okhla from where he contested and won the MCD election, police said. The local police force is deployed there to bring him down. Three big vehicles of the Delhi Fire Service are also there for the same purpose. He allegedly threatened to jump down if anybody tried to bring him down forcibly, the police said. |
| Plea to strengthen Shimla TV
station Tribune News Service NEW DELHI, July 27 — Ms Urmil Thakur, Himachal Pradesh secretary, urged the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ms Sushma Swaraj, last evening to strengthen the Shimla TV station so that it could produce original programmes on the rich cultural heritage of the state. Ms Thakur informed the minister that Himachal Pradesh has no other TV station and it has to depend on the Delhi and Jalandhar centres for overall coverage of various developmental activities. She said the Jalandhar Kendra caters to the need of Punjab only, sparing very less time for Himachal. She said the Shimla Kendra was not fully functional yet and it only transmitted programmes for half an hour. She requested the minister to direct Doordarshan to allot a time slot of 15 minutes for the telecast of developmental programmes of Himachal Pradesh on the pattern of “Haryana Diary”. She also requested the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry to made all LPTs of the state functional as early as possible. |
| Revised pay package for varsity
teachers NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — The Centre today announced a revised higher pay package for teachers of universities and colleges, incurring an additional burden of Rs 2300 crore on the state exchequer. The package announced three months ago by the government was not acceptable to the teachers who went on strike and later moved the Delhi High Court seeking a pay scale recommended by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The revised package includes the raising the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 62 years, the creation of professors’ posts in the UGC recognised autonomous colleges and a supertime scale for professors of eminence. An official announcement said that the teachers would draw their arrears with effect from January 1, 1996, in one instalment. |
| Govt, hospital staff resume
talks NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — The striking health employees and the government resumed their talks late tonight in a bid to break the impasse over the hike in patient care allowance, one of the main demands of the strikers who paralysed services in the Capital’s government hospitals for the eighth day today. The government is understood to have agreed to offer Rs 640 per month as patient care allowance (PCA) this afternoon after the 16-hour marathon talks that began last evening failed to reach an agreement. Union leaders are demanding Rs 700 as PCA which is a climbdown from the original demand of 25 per cent of basic pay as PCA which works out to an average of Rs 1450. The government had earlier set up a group comprising ministers headed by Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha to look into the agitating employees’ demands. Both sides are expected to decide on the offer on resolving issues — hike in washing allowance and abolition of privatisation of sanitation and maintenance services in hospitals. |
| In
brief Tara Bhandari set to win JAIPUR: BJP nominee Tara Bhandari is set to become the deputy speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly with the Congress boycotting Tuesday’s election. The proposal for Bhandari was moved by state Deputy Chief Minister H.S. Bhabhra and seconded by Chief Whip of the party Mahaveer Prasad Jain. The Opposition Congress decided to boycott the election in view of Tuesday’s rally at Delhi. Announcing this after the Speaker rejected the Congress demand for postponing the election, party Chief Whip Khet Singh Rathore said the “Congress wanted to field Beena Kak for the post. But the Speaker has rejected our demand.” — PTI 5 die in house collapse BASTI: Five persons were killed and two seriously injured when the roof of their house collapsed at a village in the neighbouring Siddharth Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, District Magistrate Mahavir Yadav said on Monday. The victims were sleeping in a house at Murehara village when the roof collapsed on Saturday night following incessant rain, Mr Yadav said. A grant of Rs 1.32 lakh had been given to the next of kin of the family. — PTI Farmer commits suicide NASIK: Suresh Gangadhar Khairnar (45), a farmer died at a private hospital at Malegaon town on Sunday after consuming insecticide. He, burdened with loans, consumed the insecticide on July 14 and was admitted to the hospital, the police said. He had taken a loan to dig a borewell in his field, but he did not get adequate water even after spending Rs 70,000. He had also taken loans from various societies for his daughter’s marriage. — PTI Buddhist festival held GANGTOK: The Buddhist festival Drupka Tseshi was celebrated in Sikkim on Monday with traditional fervour and gaiety. The festival, celebrated on the fourth (tseshi) of the sixth Tibetan (drupka) month, marks Lord Buddha’s first preaching of the four noble truths to his first five disciples at Sarnath. Special prayers were held in monasteries and households during the day. All state government institutions remained closed during the day to celebrate the festival. — PTI  |
 |
 |
 |
| Punjab
| Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Stocks | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
