Kolkata, July 04: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today defended the emphasis on private sector participation in developing railway infrastructure but said there was no threat to railway jobs. “You cannot always spend money from government funds.
You have to encourage private industries also. I don”t want to disturb railway employees.
New Delhi, July 04: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Saturday said the Delhi High Court had done a ‘very dangerous thing’ by de-criminalising homosexuality and he would raise the matter in parliament.
‘It is a very dangerous thing the Delhi High Court has said that it (homosexuality) is not a crime and the law must be amended. I will raise this topic in parliament and the amendment (to the law) should not be done,’ Lalu Prasad told a news channel.
‘It should never be legalized in India,’ the former railway minister said.
Bhopal, July 04: Expressing concern over the decline in polling percentage, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today called upon lawmakers to introspect why people were losing interest in the poll process. Inaugurating a two-day orientation programme for Madhya Pradesh legislators, Meira Kumar said legislature was the most powerful body and the lawmakers should use their powers for the welfare of the common man.
Rampur, July 04: Samajwadi Party MP Jayaprada alongwith party workers today sat on dharna here protesting against load shedding in district.
In a memorandum submitted to the district collector Shanker Lal Pandey, she demanded improvement in power supply, as erratic power supply has affected students, farmers, and businessmen.
She also took part in a procession from Gandhi Samadhi to Collector’s office.
–PTI
Mussoorie (Uttarakhand), July 04: President Pratibha Patil today released a postal stamp on Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration here.
The stamp in the denomination of Rs 5 was released during inauguration of the training institute’s golden jubilee celebrations.
The first day cover of the stamp carries picture of the historical building of the administrative academy.
New Delhi, July 04: To avoid heart burning among its leaders, BJP has followed a democratic process for allocation of seats to its members in both the Houses of Parliament.
In the seating arrangement submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker, BJP has followed a system where Leader of Opposition, Deputy Leader of Opposition, party president, former party president and former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha would occupy the front seat in the Lok Sabha.
The seat next to the Leader of Opposition will be occupied by the Deputy Speaker as per convention.
New Delhi, July 04: DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has asked his party colleague and IT and Communication Minister A. Raja to respond to allegations that he pressurised a judge to give bail to two men accused in a criminal case.
‘Kalignar (as Karunanidhi is referred to) has sought a clarification from Raja. He (Raja) has given a reply. I don’t know what his reply was,’ a top DMK functionary told IANS here.
Patna, July 04: RJD chief Lalu Prasad today demanded tabling of the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament during the ongoing budget session and said that demolition of Babri Masjid was one of the “greatest crimes” against the secular character of the Constitution. Now that the Commission has submitted its report, it was mandatory on the part of central government to immediately make the report public, Prasad told reporters.
Srinagar, July 04: Welcoming the High Court order to exhume the bodies of two women allegedly raped and killed in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the move will help in establishing the facts in this case which have evoked strong reactions in the valley.
The Chief Minister was of the view that any move that will help establish the fact in this case will go a long way in addressing the anger of people.
New Delhi, July 04: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which began a special politburo meeting here Saturday, is expected to announce measures to curb the infighting in its Kerala unit – between Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan – that was seen as a major reason for the party’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
The two-day politburo meet is being held at the party headquarters here.
“All politburo members except West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee are attending the meeting,” a party source told IANS.
New Delhi, July 04: The M.S. Liberhan report on the Babri Masjid demolition could not have come at a worse time for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
First, the party is still reeling from the shock of two successive defeats in general elections because they have set off an internal debate on the correctness of its political line. The report will make the discussions all the more bitter.
New Delhi, July 04: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday presented a people-friendly Budget leaving passenger fares and freight charges unchanged. She also introduced over 50 new trains and new ticket schemes. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN’s National Affairs Editor Diptosh Majumdar, Mamata explained that she tried to please every part of the country.
Mumbai, July 03: In a surprise development, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Vilasrao Deshmukh today filed his nomination to contest for the vice president’s post in the elections to the Mumbai Cricket Association scheduled for July 10.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Deshmukh will contest the polls under the panel of NCP leader and Union Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar, who was today declared elected unopposed at the end of the deadline for filing the nominations.
Chennai, July 03: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today welcomed the budget presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying it was prepared keeping in mind the needs of the common people.
In an official release here, Karunanidhi said despite the “prevailing hard economic conditions,” there was no hike in passenger fares and lauded the minister for focusing on passenger safety and people’s welfare.
Lucknow, July 03: Uttar Pradesh government today gave the green signal for filing of chargesheet in a court against BJP MP Varun Gandhi for making allegedly inflammatory speeches in Pilibhit, moving a step closer to his trial in the case.
“The government has given a go-ahead to the District Magistrate of Pilibhit to file chargesheet against Gandhi accused of delivering inflammatory speeches during Lok Sabha polls”, Secretary (Home) Mahesh Gupta told PTI.
New Delhi, July 03: Dismissing Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget as “impractical”, RJD chief Lalu Prasad today said it was based on his achievements when he was at the helm and questioned the need for issuing a white paper on the situation of the ministry during his tenure.
“Banerjee’s vision 2020 for railways is based on the achievements made during my five year’s stint as Railway Minister,” he said.
When asked if she read out a budget presented by him earlier, Prasad said, “She did not present the right budget of Lalu.”
New Delhi, July 03: The Railway Ministry will shortly come out with a White Paper on its current financial status.
“This will help us in formulating the Railways’ future plan,” Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters soon after presenting the 2009-10 rail budget in Parliament today.
The document will be based on Railways’ performance during the last five years, she said.
The Ministry was headed by RJD chief Lalu Prasad in this period, which was the first tenure of the UPA government.
New Delhi, July 03: Mamata Banerjee’s first Railway Budget was today rubbished by her predecessor and RJD chief Lalu Prasad as also BJP but Left parties and Samajwadi Party gave a mixed view on it.
Prasad, who is out in the cold despite supporting the government, said many proposals in the budget, including launch of double-decker train service and non-stop quick trains, were “impractical”.
New Delhi, July 04: Taking a dig at her predecessor Lalu Prasad, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday said the target set by him for the railways in the interim budget was ‘unrealistically high’.
‘Based on the reviews, it is very clear that the unrealistically high targets set in the interim budget are not sustainable and warrant a mid course correction,’ Banerjee said while presenting her ministry’s budget for the current fiscal in the Lok Sabha.
New Delhi: If the previous Railway Minister Lalu Prasad made Patliputra or Patna his focus of development, the current Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee may just have some sops ready for her home state of Bengal.
Lalu Prasad gave new projects to Bihar and Mamata Banerjee is likely to follow him in that aspect by looking farther eastwards.
But speaking to mediamen, Mamata Didi categorically denied having any plans to favour one state over the other.
She said, “I am taking charge from Bengal, it doesn’t mean that the work will be limited to Bengal.”
New Delhi, July 03: RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday called upon the government to make the Liberhan Commission report on the Babri Masjid demolition public at the earliest.
“The report is already delayed. It should be tabled in the present session of the Parliament,” Lalu said outside Parliament.
The one man Commission headed by Justice M S Liberhan submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
Reacting to the fuel price hike, Lalu said, “It will adversely affect the agriculture sector in the backdrop of a delayed monsoon.”
Bhubaneswar, July 3 (IANS) Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has opposed the withdrawal of central forces from Kandhamal district, which witnessed communal riots last year, and demanded their re-deployment to ensure peace in the region, officials here said Friday.
‘Patnaik has requested the central government to re-deploy the forces till the situation becomes completely normal,’ a senior official of the chief minister’s office told IANS.
Kolkata, July 03: The Trinamool Congress has fared much better than its ally Congress in the civic polls held on June 28, the results of which were announced. The Left Front was routed by the Opposition alliance across 10 districts where 16 civic bodies went to the polls.
Congress, which won four municipal bodies in 2004, lost one to the CPM in North Bengal and could not wrest any civic body from the ruling Front. While the Trinamool, which had only one civic body in 2004, wrested nine from the CPM in South Bengal.
Chennai, July 03: For the first time in India a sitting HC judge had accused a Union minister of threatening him
While Madras High Court Judge R Reghupathi has refused to name the minister who allegedly threatened and pressurised him, Tamil Nadu’s Leader of Opposition J Jayalalitha on Thursday said Minister for IT and Communication A Raja was the culprit.
New Delhi, July 03: Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan today said there was no need put the assets of judges in public domain as it would send a “wrong message” to litigants.
“Judges do declare their assets at the time of taking oath. All their details are with the registrar. There is no need for the assets to be disclosed before the public as that would send a wrong message to litigants,” Justice Balakrishnan told a news channel.
He was responding to a question regarding Law Minister M Veerappa Moily’s call for disclosure of judges’ assets to the public.