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NDA to boycott Parliament for next three days

     New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has decided to boycott both Houses of Parliament for the next three days to push its demand for dismissal of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav against whom charges have been framed in a fodder scam case today. The alliance took the decision in a meeting chaired by its Chairman and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his residence. Earlier, Vajpayee sought the resignation of Lalu Prasad from the Union Cabinet, claiming that the latter was morally obliged to do so in the wake of the April 21 train accident near Vadodara that claimed 17 lives and left over a hundred injured. Vajpayee also urged the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, to delete the names of certain organisations (RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal) that had been mentioned in the Railway Minister's statement to Parliament on the Vadodara rail mishap.

     Vajpayee also called upon the members to discuss and decide whether the House would be allowed to function on moral values or not. Amid repeated interruptions from the members of the Left and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Vajpayee termed Lalu remarks as highly objectionable. He further said that for effective and smooth functioning of the House it was a must that ministers like Lalu Prasad quit. But a combative Lalu hit back in his trademark style. He first distributed copies of a statement delivered by Vajpayee in 2001 where he had defended his own ministers facing corruption charges and then, hit him where it hurt the most. "Vajpayee said that he didn't have any work. Every time the BJP faces trouble they field Atalji. But I want to say that I still stand by my statement," said Lalu. Describing Lalu's statement on Tuesday as 'irrelevant', Vajpayee said instead of talking about the reasons behind the rail mishap he made irresponsible allegations against a few organsations. Vajpayee's statement was frequently interrupted by the agitated members of the RJD and the Left, forcing the Chair to appeal for restoration of peace. "Vajpayee is a responsible member of the House, we must all listen to him," Chatterjee said, adding that "I can only express my anguish once again".

     Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was forced to then adjourn the Lower house till the afternoon because of the chaotic scene. In the Rajya Sabha too, it was a free for all during Question Hour, as Opposition and treasury bench members virtually forced an adjournment of the House over the same issue. As the House assembled for the day, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat directed that Question Hour be taken up. He called for A Vijayaraghavan who was to ask the first Question on Panchayati Raj. However, Yashwant Sinha of the BJP got up and started saying something. Other members of the BJP, led by Rudra Narayan Pani and S S Ahluwalia, started protesting vociferously demanding dismissal of Lalu Yadav. They were joined by other members who also demanded Lalu's dismissal. Sensing that the situation was worsening, the Chairman adjourned the House. Later talking to reporters outside Parliament, Vajpayee accused Lalu of making false allegations against the BJP and the RSS in connection with the alleged attack on him (Lalu) in Gujarat. Vajpayee also pointed out that Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil did not make a statement in Parliament yesterday on the issue. "There was no ground or basis for it and there was no evidence to support the charges against the Sangh Parivar," he added.

     Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance has again demanded that Lalu should resign in the wake of the fresh charges that have been framed against him in the 1996 animal fodder scam. The charges were framed yesterday in a court in Ranchi. According to reports after a meeting of the BJP MPs, the party has decided not to let the Parliament function unless Prime Minister Manmohan Singh makes a statement on tainted ministers in his cabinet. Charges were framed on Monday against Yadav in a second case relating to the fodder scam case.

India's surface-to-air missile Trishul test-fired (Go To Top)

     Balasore (Orissa): India's indigenously developed multi-target surface-to-air missile, Trishul, was today test- fired between 1.05 pm and 1.10 pm from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea. The sources didn't reveal whether the launch was successful or not. The Trishul (Trident), being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is a short range, quick reaction, all weather surface-to-air missile designed to counter a low- level attack. It has been flight tested in the sea-skimming role and also against moving targets. It has a range of 12 km and can carry 15 kg warhead. Its detection of target to missile launch is around 6 seconds. The missile can engage targets like aircraft and helicopters, flying between 300 m/s and 500 m/s by using its radar command-to- line-of-sight guidance. It operates in the K-band (20 - 40 GHz), which makes it difficult to jam. In the K-band three-beam system, the missile is initially injected into a wide beam, which then hands it over to a medium beam, which passes over to a narrow beam, guiding it to the target.

Trinamool Congress splits (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress has split over the issue of forming an alliance with the Congress in coming civic polls, with ten MLAs and 12 civic officials forming a forum led by Kolkata Mayor Subrata Mukherjee. Subrata had invited all pro-alliance Trinamool leaders for dinner at his residence. With only six weeks to go for crucial elections to 82 civic bodies in the state, the Trinamool leaders had disagreement over an alliance with the Congress. Mamata Banerjee was totally against an alliance with the Congress, as it was enjoying the support of her enemies - left parties. But Subrata wanted the Trinamool, the Congress and other opposition parties to form an anti-Left forum. Earlier, Subrata accused Mamta of putting the party on a self- destruction mode. "Just because I have raised a debate within the party, she is accusing me of backstabbing. There is no need to backstab anybody here. If someone is determined to commit suicide, they will find the means to do it anyway," said Subrata Mukherjee, Leader, Trinamool.

Kerala government lifts ban on lottery (Go To Top)

      Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Kerala's 3.5 lakh lottery vendors and agents on Tuesday heaved a sigh of relief as the state government formally announced the lifting of ban on lotteries in the state after a gap of three months. Several vendors and agents had been left jobless by the ban. One vendor had even committed suicide, while others also made attempts to end their lives due to the ban. The state government had banned its lotteries in January after banning all other state lotteries accusing them of tax evasion. But last month, the Assembly passed two bills levying a higher tax on lottery tickets from other states, imposing a ban on online lotteries and giving the go ahead to state lotteries. Close to 45 lakh tickets of government lotteries will be issued every week and the first draw will take place on May 10. But for the moment it's nothing short of a jackpot for lottery agents and vendors.

Ansari found guilty in American centre attack (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Aftab Ansari, criminal who once operated in Dubai, has been convicted for fis role in the American Centre terrorist-attack case. The magistrate's court found him guilty of murder, conspiracy and waging war against the country. Magistrate Basudev Mazumdar will declare the quantum of sentence tomorrow. Six other accused were convicted. They include Jamiluddin Nasser, Rehan Alam, Adil Hasan, Musharat Hussain, Hasrat Alam and Shakir Aktar. Meanwhile, the magistrate found two other accused person in the case, Dilip Patel and Shakil Mallick, not guilty. Around 123 witnesses were examined during the trial. Thirteen people were charge sheeted in connection with the terrorist attack. The chargesheet was filed on April 26, 2002. The attack was carried out on January 22, 2002. Five policemen were killed and 20 were injured when armed gunmen riding on two motorcycles opened fire on the Center. No American Center official was injured in the attack.

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