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Lok Sabha Speaker cancels trip to Sydney

     New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, today called off his visit to Sydney to attend a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament Association. He cancelled his trip because he does not want to be frisked at the airport there. He said, "My country's prestige is at stake and I don't want to compromise on it. I would prefer not to go". "As Speaker of the Lok Sabha, which represents the world's largest democracy, if I am not trusted in any of the countries, then I should not go there. We have to be exempted from security checks as Heads of Government and Heads of State", said he. "Unless we respect each other, how can we have good relations. It is all the more painful when a fellow Commonwealth country does this. It is very unfortunate. It is really an affront to India that some country insists on rigorous checks on its Speaker in the name of security," Chatterjee added.

CBI raids OP Chautala, son's residences over JBT scam  (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The CBI today conducted raids at the residences of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala over their alleged connection with the junior Basic Teachers (JBT) recruitment scam in the state. According to the CBI sources, the raids were conducted at seven places in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh, which included the residence of the Chautalas, a former MLA and the then political advisor of Chautala. The investigating agency had registered the case in May, 2004 and 19 people were named as accused in the JBT scam. Suspended IAS officer Sanjeev Kumar had alleged that O P Chautala had a hand in the fake recruitment scam. In Haryana, raids were carried out at Palwal, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Biwani.

SC grants interim bail to ex-Mumbai police chief (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The interim bail of former Mumbai police commissioner R S Sharma, an accused in the multi-crore Telgi fake stamp paper scam, was extended by the Supreme Court on Thursday. A two-judgedivision bench comprising Mr Justice B P Singh and Mr Jutice S B Sinha extended the interim bail granted to Sharma on November 4 last year. CBI has charged Sharma with receiving illegal gratification of Rs 22 lakh for shielding Abdul Karim Telgi, the main accused in the Rs 33,000 crore scam. Sharma, who has been charged under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act remained in jail for 22 months. He had moved the apex court after the Bombay High Court rejected his bail plea.

Bangladesh, China strike nuclear deal  (Go To Top)
by Nazrul Islam

     Dhaka: Bangladesh and China on Thursday struck nine deals, including one for peaceful usage of nuclear energy, to strengthen relations between the two Asian nations through closer economic and bilateral cooperation. Official talks between the two heads of both the countries were followed by the signing of the agreements, memorandum of understanding and exchange of letters at the Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office. The deals were signed on the first day of the two-day official visit by Chinese Prime Minister Wen in Bangladesh. The tow leaders after the dialogue announced the year 2005 as "The Year of Friendship" to mark 30 years of Bangladesh-China diplomatic relationship. Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao witnessed the inking of the deals after holding an hour-long discussion on economic cooperation, bilateral, regional and international issues of common concern. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Bangladesh Minister for Science and Information Communication Technology Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan signed the Bangladesh-China Cooperation Agreement on Peaceful Usage of Nuclear Energy. The two sides signed agreement on bilateral economic and technical cooperation and a framework agreement on provision of concession lending by China to Bangladesh. Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xillai and Bangladesh Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman signed for their respective sides. The two sides signed two memorandums on cooperation in agricultural field and telecommunications. They also signed agreement on safety and security and one on coal mine management and production contract service.

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