Month: June 2012

Cracking the whip in a bid to check dissidence in ruling BJD, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday suspended dissident leader and MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and sacked two of his ministers from the government.

The sacked ministers are Anjali Behera, Cabinet minister in charge of Women and Child Development, and Minister of Commerce and Transport Sanjiv Sahu.

Making the announcement, the Chief Minister said he has written a letter to the Governor recommending their removal.

After Anna Hazare, yoga guru Ramdev on Friday trained guns at the Prime Minister alleging that he is not “politically honest” and it is not anti-corruption activists but Manmohan Singh himself who is weakening the democratic traditions of the country.

Addressing a press conference to brief about the June 3 fast along with Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar here, the yoga guru said he still trusts Singh’s “personal honesty”.

In a strong rebuttal to charges by team Anna, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Friday said there was no scam in allocation of coal blocks and his department was not aware of any CAG report on the issue.

“There is no CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report with me…There is no scam in allocation of coal blocks,” Jaiswal told reporters.

He said the blocks were allocated (to the companies both in the public and private sector) to provide subsidised power to the people in the last 15 years.

Over a dozen persons were today injured when a clash broke out between two communities in Kosi Kalan town of the district.

Members belonging to both the communities indulged in brick batting and also fired shots at each other, leaving at least twelve persons injured, police said.

The incident reportedly occurred after a pedestrian used water meant for some religious purpose, leading to a heated argument that culminated into the clashes.

Shops and business establishment were closed following the pitched battles in the heart of the city, police said.

BJP on Friday sought to take credit for the CVC decision to refer complaints regarding coal mining allotments to the CBI for a preliminary inquiry.

“We are happy that the CVC has taken cognisance of our complaint. The CVC has written to us saying your complaints have been duly examined in the commission having regard to the issues raised therein and the same has been forwarded to the CBI for a preliminary inquiry,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

The CBI has started verifying the allegations of irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks to private companies between 2006 and 2009 and their misuse by them.

The agency received from the Central Vigilance Commission the complaint of BJP leaders Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir who had alleged that first-come-first-serve basis was adopted by the government to benefit some private companies.

CBI sources said the complaint that has been received has general allegations in which names or individual companies are not mentioned.

A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee Friday saw strong arguments between chairman Murli Manohar Joshi and a Congress member over pursuance of CAG’s report on Adarsh Society when an inquiry commission has declared that the land belongs to the state government.]

At the first meeting of the newly-constituted PAC, Sanjay Nirupam is learnt to have said that since the land belongs to the Maharashtra government, the PAC cannot take up a state subject.

Elections to fill up three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala and the by-election for one seat to the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh would be held on June 25, the Election Commission announced on Friday.

As per schedule for elections to the Council of States announced by the poll body, the necessary notification for the polls for all the four RS seats would be issued on June 8 when the process for filing of nominations would also start.

With still nearly two years to go for general elections in India, a confident BJP has started wooing US with its high-level visits to the Capitol Hill to explain party’s views on various issues.

Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha is the second party leader to visit the US Congress in a year and meet key Congressional leaders apparently to put across BJP’s views on economic reforms and foreign policy.

Party strategist Arun Jaitley had done a similar exercise last year.

Expressing disappointment over the Centre not doing enough to eradicate corruption, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare has said he has lost his faith in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“I had a strong belief in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but now I do not have faith in him,” Hazare said during a visit here.

“We have to select persons having good character and send them to Parliament, then only the expected change will take place,” he added.

Curfew was clamped and shoot-at-sight orders issued in Ara after mob violence broke out following the killing of Barmeshwar Singh alias Mukhia, ‘chief’ of the banned Ranvir Sena, at Katira under Nawada
police station in Bhojpur district of Bihar this morning. High alert had been sounded in Central Bihar and
elsewhere in the state after criminals shot dead Barmeshwar when he had gone out for a morning walk.

An anti-tobacco advocacy group, raising concern over display of tobacco product advertisements in Delhi Metro, has asked the DMRC chief to take them off.

“Indirect/surrogate advertisements of tobacco products like ‘Chaini Chaini’, ‘Cool Lip’, ‘Dilbag’, ‘Rajdarbar’ have been displayed at many prominent and most busy metro stations like Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate and Central Secretariat,” said NGO Health Related Information Dissemination Among Youth (HRIDAY) in a letter Friday to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) head Mangu Singh.