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Rajya Sabha bids
farewell to 99 members
New Delhi,
Mar 10 (PTI)
After two days of acrimony and bitter feud over Women's Reservation
Bill in the Rajya Sabha, members of the House were today in a
bonhomie mood as they got together to bid farewell to 99 of their
colleagues who have either completed their tenure or are close to
doing so. Among the 99 members, a few had already retired last year
while some others were elected to the Lok Sabha in the last general
elections. Besides Union Ministers A K Antony and Anand
Sharma,prominent among those who would be retiring this year include their ministerial colleagues Ambika Soni, Jairam Ramesh, M S Gill, BJP
leader M Venkaiah Naidu and SP leader Jaya Bachchan. Leader of the
Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Union Ministers Farooq
Abdullah, Sushilkumar Shinde, Praful Patel, V Narayanasamy and BJP
leader Murli Manohar Joshi were among those who were elected to the
15th Lok Sabha after being members of the Rajya Sabha. Speaking at
the farewell function, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Rajya
Sabha can perform an exemplary role and bring to bear the quality of
experience which is not always available to the Lok Sabha. Rajya
Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari described the Upper House as the
lynchpin of the federal structure which is a remarkable collection
of persons with diverse skills and experience which together can
produce a compendium of invaluable knowledge. The evening also saw
rendition of ghazals by noted singer Jagjit Singh.
Some ministers not obeying Govt discipline, says Cong MP
New Delhi, Mar 10
(PTI)
Apparently stung by a Congress member's remarks in the Rajya Sabha
that some ministers were "not obeying" discipline of the government,
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today left the House briefly when
discussion on the Railway Budget was on. "...there are ministers who
are not obeying the discipline of the government in spite of being
in the Cabinet...Once you join government, you are supposed to obey
the Prime Minister and the decision taken in the Union Cabinet,"
Praveen Rashtrapal said. Senior BJP leader S S Ahluwalia said
Banerjee is peeved over the remarks made by the Congress member."She
has left the House, angry over remarks by the Treasury benches...she
is sitting in the Central Hall," Ahluwalia said adding, her presence
during the discussion on Railway Budget was required. Deputy
Chairman Rahman Khan informed the House that a message would be been
sent to her. Banerjee, however, returned to the House after
remainingaway for about 20 minutes. Both the Rajya Sabha members
belonging to Banerjee's Trinamool Congress had abstained from voting
on the Women' Bill yesterday. Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi
had said yesterday that his party chief wanted the views of the
Dalits, OBCs and Muslims to be taken on board. "But unfortunately
that did not happen. Trinamool Congress is for debate and
discussion," he had said.
Mamata meets Sonia
New Delhi, Mar 10
(PTI) A
day after Trinamool Congress abstained from voting on women's
reservation bill in Rajya Sabha, party supremo Mamata Banerjee
tonight met Congress
President Sonia Gandhi and explained her party's stand. Banerjee and
her party leader and Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi
held a 45-minute meeting with Gandhi at her residence, which was
described as "very positive".When contacted, Trinamool Chief Whip in
Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay said Mamata explained to Gandhi her
party's position on the issue. Gandhi had last night expressed
surprise at Trinamool Congress' abstention after pointing out that
Mamata was
initially very enthusiastic about the Bill at a meeting of the union
cabinet. TC has been maintaining that the "sentiments" of the
minorities should be incorporated in the women's quota bill. It has
not yet made clear what stand it would take when the legislation
comes up for consideration in the Lok Sabha. The Railway Minister
was apparently stung by a Congress member's remarks today in the
Rajya Sabha that some ministers were "not obeying" the discipline of
the government. After the remark was made during a debate on the
railway Budget, Banerjee left the House briefly with BJP member S S
Ahluwalia. Earlier in the day today, Banerjee attributed her party's
abstention from voting on the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya
Sabha to a "communication gap" and said she was
committed to the Constitutional amendment.
No quotas within quota, no threat to Govt: Moily
New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Government today ruled out
providing 'quota within quota' for OBCs and Muslims in the Women's
Reservation Bill and said there was no deliberate delay in bringing
the measure to Lok Sabha on perceived threat to its
stability. Unfazed by threats of withdrawl of support by allies like
SP and RJD, the Government is absolutely confident and has no
worries about numbers in Lok Sabha or about passage of the money
bills in the lower house. "There is no provision for sub quota for
OBCs or minorities under the present scheme of things in
Constitution
and also because there is no data available even today on
communities and castes under the census," Law Minister M Veerappa
Moily told PTI in an interview. "Even if we want to have a national
census on communities and castes and if we want to concede to the
demand of leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, we have
to wait for another 15 years for the 2021 census to be completed. We
cannot wait that long for bringing this legislation," he said. Moily
said for this to happen the national policy followed since 1931 has
to be changed for changing the census procedure. "Any bill that will
have quotas within quota will be struck down in limine by courts as
unconstitutional," he said. Once the states ratify the Bill, Moily
said Government would have to enact an ordinary legislation
something on the lines of a delimitation law for charting the
roadmap of how to go about the process. The Election Commission
would be brought into the picture, and a commission may be
constituted to go about the job of drawing the parameters for
delineating the constituencies and earmarking them for women. Like
in the case of SCs and STs, the population of a particular
constituency and the component of women in it could be factors that
will determine the identification the constituency for women. On the
parameters, Moily refused to hazard a guess saying that it was for
the Election Commission and the prospective commission that would
delve on it. The minister rejected criticism against the Bill that
it will create instability in the reserved constituencies because it
would be rotated after every election. He said the instability would
be for the candidate but the party would take care of and nurture
the constituency in its own interest. The rotation principle is in
the interest of horizontal representation for women in all the
parliamentary constituencies in the 15 years the law would be in
force.
BJP
clamours to take credit for Women's Bill
March 10,
2010 18:54 IST
New Delhi: Mar
10: (PTI):
With the Congress-led government taking most of the credit for the
passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, the
Bharatiya Janata Party Wednesday patted its own back for the success
and criticised the United Progressive Alliance for the forcible
eviction of protesting Members of Parliament from the House. Despite
being in a minority in the Upper House, the Congress-led government
and especially party chief Sonia Gandhi earned kudos for passage of
the Bill. The BJP, however, said that the Congress showed undue
haste by using marshals and trying to put the Bill to vote without a
debate. It also said dissenters should have been allowed to vote.
"The government should not have used marshals. It should have tried
to exhaust and fatigue the seven MPs who were not leaving the House
after suspension. They could have waited till today morning and
evicted these members when they went out of the House to attend
nature's call or drink water, take medicines, etc," said a senior
BJP leader. The main opposition said since Gandhi wanted the Bill to
be passed on Tuesday itself, the Congress top brass was ready to go
ahead with the voting, without a discussion. "Home Minister
Chidambaram told us there cannot be a debate, but we maintained
that the Bill cannot be passed without a discussion. Finally the
government had to relent," a senior BJP MP said. The praise heaped
on Sonia Gandhi for passage of the 108th Constitutional Amendment
has irked BJP. "One should remember Gandhi is not a member of the
Upper House. Moreover, the government does not have a two-thirds
majority there. We are more in number and the credit should go to
all parties," an MP said. "Since the government was in a minority,
the onus of passing the Bill was with us," said a senior BJP leader.
The party also feels the suspension of the seven MPs, who created
pandemonium in the House, should be revoked even if they do not
apologise but express regret. "The government should suo motu take
back the suspension of the seven MPs, now that the Bill has been
passed. There are several instances when the government has revoked
suspensions. But it is up to them," Deputy Leader of BJP in Lok
Sabha Gopinath Munde said. The BJP is also miffed at the government
not allowing dissenters to vote, saying the protesting MPs should
have been called in at the time of voting.
Police mulls FIR
against suspended cops
PanajI, Mar 10:
Goa police is planning to file an FIR against five policemen who
were placed under suspension for their alleged nexus with drug
peddlers in the state. High level sources in the department said
that the Crime Branch, which is investigating the nexus, is likely
to file the FIR, soon. Deputy Inspector General of Police Ravindra
Yadav has already given his consent to file the report against all
five policemen including police inspector Ashish Shirodkar. An
inspector, a head constable and three constables were placed under
suspension last week after an alleged drug dealer, Yaniv Benahim
alias Atala, was caught on camera confessing to be close to
Shirodkar. Atala had claimed that Shirodkar was supplying him drugs
stolen from the Anti Narcotic Cell custody. Similarly, interrogation
of arrested drug dealer David Griham alias Dudu by police had also
revealed few names of policemen providing him protection. While Dudu
is currently in judicial custody under Narcotics and Psychotropic
Substances (NDPS) Act, Atala was arrested on Tuesday under section
41 of CrPC. DIG Yadav told reporters that Atala’s statement was
required to probe the police drug-peddler nexus claimed in the video
tape shot on spy cam, which exposed the links.
Heavy security around Chinese embassy
New Delhi, Mar 10: A day after Tibetan activists tried to storm the Chinese
embassy here, heavy security was deployed to avoid any untoward
incident on the 51st anniversary of Tibetan uprising against Chinese
rule on Wednesday. “Large number of security personnel have been
deployed around the Chinese embassy in Chanakyapuri to deal with any
situation keeping in mind the anniversary of Tibetan uprising,” said
Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S. Dash. Around 30
Tibetan activists, including women, were detained on Tuesday when
they tried to storm the heavily guarded Chinese embassy as part of
their protest.
The Dalai Lama fled
into exile in 1959 and established his government-in-exile at
McLeodganj, near Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.
Dog gives netas
sleepless nights
Bangalore, Mar
10:
Security at the legislators’ home (LH) might have improved by leaps
and bounds in the last few years, but a lonely walk at night on the
premises can still be dangerous.And that’s not because of
miscreants, but a rabid dog. “Sir, please do something to ensure the
mad dog is caught at the earliest,” K T Srikantegowda JD(S)
requested council chairman Veeranna Mathikatti on Tuesday, as the
House burst into laughter. For the last few days, legislators,
employees and their visitors at the LH have been terrorised by the
dog. So far, he said, 17 persons have been bitten. Claiming that he
himself saw a woman being mauled by the canine on the premises,
Gowda rubbished the BBMP and government’s statements that the number
of stray dogs in Bangalore has come down. Mathikatti directed the
government to ask officials to take immediate action. Residents from
many parts of the city complain about the stray menace almost every
day. They say the authorities are not doing enough to tackle the
problems. Children are at risk while playing in the open.
Mamata in favour
of the Women Bill,defends decision to abstain
New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI): Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today
defended her party’s decision to abstain from voting on the Women’s
Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha but said she was in favour of
the Constitutional amendment. “Our party is committed to the Bill.
We will do it,” she told reporters outside Parliament. But at the
same time, she was critical of the “communication gap” before the
Bill was put to vote in Rajya Sabha yesterday. “In Rajya Sabha we
have two members. We were not informed... there was communication
gap,” she said. She said during the meeting of allies with Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, it was decided to call for an all party
meeting (on the Bill) where her party could also raise the issue of
including minorities in women’s reservation. “But no (all party)
meeting was called later. We had no information,” Mamata said.When
pointed that Left was taking all the credit for the successful
passage of the Bill in the Upper House, she said Left never wanted
quota for women in the Rajya Sabha as it was against letting common
women enter the Upper House. “They only want their cadre to enter
the Rajya Sabha. They do not want common women to enter the Upper
House,” Mamata said. She also said her party has repeatedly asked
quota for women in Rajya Sabha. Yesterday, Trinamool MP Dinesh
Trivedi had said his party chief wanted the views of the Dalits,
OBCs and Muslims to be taken on board. “But unfortunately that did
not happen. Trinamool Congress is for debate and discussion,” he had
said.
Suspended RS members remain unapologetic
New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI): A day after being marshalled out from the Rajya Sabha,
two of the suspended members said there was no question of tendering
an apology over their behaviour on women’s bill as they were raising
the cause of the OBC, dalit and minority women in the House. “Even
if our membership goes, we will not apologise,” Kamal Akhtar of the
Samajwadi Party told reporters outside Parliament House.Seven
members belonging to SP, RJD, LJP and an unattached MP were
suspended for their unruly behaviour in the House over the Women’s
Reservation Bill Ejaz Ali, unattached member and formerly with the
JD(U), said, “They (government) should apologise before the nation
for throwing us out of the House by using marshals”. Both Akhtar and
Ali were in the Parliament House complex even though they cannot
enter Rajya Sabha due to their suspension for the remaining part of
the Budget session. Akhtar asked, “Apologise for what? We are
members of Parliament and duty bound to raise the views of the
people. In fact the government should apologise to the women of
backward classes, Muslims and the dalits”.
Body scanner to
make India debut at IGI
New Delhi, Mar
10:
Passengers looking forward to flying out of IGI’s upcoming terminal
(T3) can expect more than just exposure to global standards. In a
first for Indian airports, the government has decided to install the
controversial body scanner on a trial basis.
“The ministry is considering installing body scanners
at IGI on a trial basis once the new terminal is commissioned,”
aviation minister Praful Patel told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The technology promises foolproof security checks by
producing an image of a passenger’s body for securitymen to check
for hidden objects. Technology for body scan not yet finalized
T3 is scheduled to be inaugurated in the first week of
July and fully operational soon after that. Since body scanners have
raised serious issues with many questioning the alleged breach of
privacy and health impact of radiation, aviation minister Praful
Patel added a word of caution.
Patel said the government is yet to finalize the type
of technology to be deployed as the proposal is still in initial
stages. “Appropriate safeguards and certification for privacy and
health issues will be incorporated,” he said. After Delhi, Mumbai
could be the next airport to get these scanners. Airport operators
in India are themselves unsure about the privacy issues being
generated by body scanners. Apart from that, they are also unsure of
the health impact of the exposure of radiation to frequent fliers.
“We have our reservations. But being a sensitive security issue, we
would like the government to address all concerns sensitively. Our
intelligence and security agencies have advocated deployment of body
scanners at airports and we will do as told,” said an airport
operator on condition of anonymity. Some airports globally have
started using this controversial scanning system and at present ask
only suspicious passengers to go through them. If such passengers
decline to be subjected to the scanner test, they are not allowed to
board aircraft. London Heathrow, for instance, deployed body
scanners soon after a Nigerian national managed to board a
Detroit-bound aircraft from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport with
explosives strapped on him last December. Schiphol has body scanners
and France and Italy could also use this technique at their
airports. The West has worked out an interim code for securitymen
that mandates passengers will not be asked to pass through body
scanners on the basis of gender, race or ethnic origin. India will
now have to devise its own code of conduct.
500 Delhi cops
held in past 3 yrs for crimes
New Delhi, Mar
10:
Delhi Police may claim to be a “clean force” but figures tell a
different story. Replying to a question in Parliament, the minister
of state in the ministry of home affairs (MHA), Mullappallay
Ramachandran, on Tuesday said 500 officers of Delhi Police had been
arrested for various crimes in the past three years. Though the
minister claimed number of crimes committed by police personnel is
not rising, he refused to provide details of action taken by the
government against tainted cops. “The data is still being
collected,” he said. According to the written reply, a copy of which
is with Times City, 116 police personnel were arrested in 2007. This
number saw a huge 54% rise in 2008, with 251 personnel being
arrested for various crimes. In 2009, 133 tainted cops were
arrested. A large number of policemen were arrested on graft
charges. In 2007, a total of 51 personnel were arrested for being
involved in corruption, while another 124 were arrested on similar
charges in 2008. Last year, 30 policemen were arrested after they
were found involved in corruption. However, the more disturbing news
was that of these, 12 were middle-level officers holding ranks of
ACP and inspector. The data reveals at least six personnel were
found to be involved in murder or attempt to murder cases in 2008.
Four others were found involved in the same offence in 2009. This
includes six constables, three head constables and one assistant
sub-inspector. Another 30 personnel, including 21 constables, were
found to be involved in various cheating cases in the past three
years. It is often alleged that beat officers are involved in
extortion cases. At least 16 cops, including two inspectors, have
been found to have involved in extortion in the last three years.
Six others, including two sub-inspectors, have been booked for rape
charges. Senior police officers admitted there might be some more
tainted cops inside the force. “There are several others who are
under temporary suspension or undergoing internal enquiries on
various charges levelled against them. It is therefore, not
surprising if these numbers see a significant rise in the coming
days,” said an officer at the vigilance wing.
The police claimed they have adopted a
“zero-tolerance” towards corruption and other crimes.
“The numbers provided by MHA prove that we are not trying to
hush up crimes,” claimed a senior officer at the police
headquarters.
Arrested Maoist leader’s parents not interested in meeting him
Kolkata, Mar 10
(PTI):
The parents of arrested top Maoist leader Venkateshwar Reddy alias
Telugu Dipak have not shown any interest in meeting their son, who
has not visited home in the last 13 years.
The only child of Seshi Reddy and Ramakottama,
residents of a small hamlet, Koppolu, nearly 100 km from Hyderabad
were informed of the arrest of their son on March 2 by the West
Bengal CID, Superintendent of Police of Prakasham district in Andhra
Pradesh Naveen Chanda told PTI over phone.“It was our duty and we
have informed his parents about his arrest in Kolkata, but they
didn’t make any formal request to meet their son,” Chanda said.
Asked whether the district or state police would take the initiative
if the parents wanted to meet Dipak, a close aide of the CPI(Maoist)
politburo member Kishanji, he replied, “It is a very delicate issue
and it will not be justified to make a comment on this right now.
“Let them make a formal request. The issue has a humanitarian angle.
We will definitely consider it sympathetically,” Chanda said.
According to the SP, Dipak left his home in 1989 after he became
involved with student politics while studying engineering at Guntur
Engineering College and then with Maoists. “According to police
reports he came back only once in 1997,” Chanda said. Asked whether
Dipak, an explosives expert, was the only one to be influenced by
Maoists in the district, the Prakasham district SP said, “The Maoist
movement began in the state nearly 30 years ago and so it is
impossible to say whether he was the only one from the district.
“The main problem with Maoist is that they change their names
frequently. Though there is no concrete evidence I don’t think a
leader of his stature has ever hailed from this district.”The Andhra Pradesh government has declared a Rs 10 lakh
reward for him as he was wanted in many cases, he said. Dipak is now
being grilled by the West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh police, besides
central intelligence agencies. Dipak is a member of the Maoist State
Military Commission, West Bengal chapter, and is in charge of Orissa,
Bihar and Jharkhand, CID sources said. He was responsible for
detailed planning execution of operations, the sources said, and was
behind all major strikes in West Bengal in recent times.
Congress
thanks
media,
Opposition
For passage
of Women's Bill
March 10,
2010 19:23 IST
New Delhi: March
10 (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday sought to give credit to
president Sonia Gandhi for the passage of the Women's Reservation
Bill in the Rajya Sabha. "We thank the media for acknowledging the
personal stamp of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the passage of
the Bill," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in New
Delhi. The party also expressed its gratitude to the opposition
parties which helped in getting the Bill passed. Tewari said the
bill was historic and in line with the party's commitment to the
cause of women. He said the commitment of the Congress to the cause
of women has been historic and consistent and referred to acts like
the Hindu Succession Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, Maternity Benefit
Act, Equal Opportunities Act, reservation of 33 per cent for women
in local bodies and then raising it to 50 per cent and now the
Women's Reservation Bill. Asked when the Bill will be introduced in
the Lok Sabha, Tewari said it depended on the government and the
legislative calendar. To a query on the demand of the Bharatoya
Janata Party, that the suspension of the seven members of Rajya
Sabha should be revoked, the spokesman said even though the motion
for suspension was moved by the government, the decision was taken
by Chairman Hamid Ansari and it was up to him to take a
decision."But the bigger question is how correct it is to prevent a
democratic process. It was justified to take action against them,"
Tewari claimed. He said violence and anarchy could not be allowed in
a democratic institution and a handful of people had tried to
subvert the majority. "It (suspension) was well deserved," he said.
Replying to a question on whether the party was confident about the
numbers in the Lok Sabha given the Trinamool Congress' stand on the
issue, he said, "There is a bigger issue of women's empowerment and
we hope the Trinamool Congress will reconsider their decision and
participate in the historic process". |
