Crisis now hits Jharkhand Government; Yechuri, Brinda Karat take oath as Rajya Sabha members; CVC for Mayawati's prosecution in Taj corridor scam; Parliament session likely to be till Aug 30; Alleged Indian spy's family threatens suicide; Appeal in parliament for alleged India spy; Three in the running for Pak's new envoy to New Delhi; Does 'Bigamous' Britney have another husband?; Britney's hubby seeks Deepak Chopra's spiritual guidance; Madonna is looking for a 'dancey' body double; Liz Hurley to launch organic baby food; One wedding's not enough for Paris Hilton; Tommy Hilfiger is up for grabs;India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Monday, Aug 22, 2005

Crisis now hits Jharkhand Government

New Delhi: An unexpected visit to Delhi by seven MLAs from Jharkhand, six of whom are ministers in the state government, suggests a likely split in the Arjun Munda government. The delegation that includes five independent MLAs and two from BJP, does not seem to be content with the functioning of Chief Minister Arjun Munda. "We are not happy with Munda's way of functioning. He has failed to make any general consent. He does not take our views in consideration while making decisions. We are going to meet senior party leader Rajnath Singh to sort-out the problem and get some solution," said Madhu Koda, a minister in Munda government. However, he kept silence on the question for a demand on Munda's change, who was appointed as the chief minister earlier this year when BJP regained the power for the second consecutive time after the formation of Jharkhand in November 2000. Jharkhand finance minister, Raghuvar Das, who also came down to Delhi, denied reports of an apparent problem within the party at the state level. He said that they have come just to meet some senior party leaders, adding that the Jharkhand Government was not going to face any trouble as the ministers were happy with Munda's work. Besides Raghuvar Das and Madhu Koda, the delegation includes state BJP president Yadunath Pandey, Sudesh Mahto, Chandraprakash Choudhary, Harinarayan Ray and Ravindra Ray.

Yechuri, Brinda Karat take oath as Rajya Sabha members (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Nine new members elected to the Rajya Sabha took oath or affirmation of allegiance to the Constitution today. Among them were Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechuri of the CPI(M), Suryakant Krupashanker Acharya and Surindra Motilal Patel of the BJP, Ahmed Patel of the Congress,Swapan Sadhan Bose of the Trinamool Congress,Chittabrata Majumdar and Abani Roy of the RSP, and Arjun Kumar Sengupta (independent).

CVC for Mayawati's prosecution in Taj corridor scam (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Recommending proceedings against former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in the multi-crore Taj Heritage Corridor scam case, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) today told the Supreme Court that there was enough evidence to prosecute the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief. Attorney General Milon Banerjee and CBI Director U S Mishra both had favoured the closure of the case against Mayawati. On the other hand, the CVC said that the evidence collected by the CBI was good enough to launch a prosecution against her in the Rs 175 crore (40 million dollars) scam. The CVC has also recommended the prosecution of former Environment Secretary R K Sharma and former UP Environment Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui in the case, but recommended closure of the case against former UP Chief Secretary D S Bagga and Mayawati's former Secreatary P L Punia. The Supreme Court on March 14 had sent entire CBI case material against Mayawati and other accused to the CVC for opinion whether they should be prosecuted or not. Interestingly, the investigating officer and five others had felt that prosecution could be launched against the BSP supremo, whereas only the Attorney General and Director of the CBI had felt that no charge-sheet could be filed against her on the basis of available evidence. The environment-cum-heritage project was to come up on a two-km- long stretch on the Yamuna river bed between the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. No one knows who sanctioned the project.

When the controversy broke, Mayawati who was then the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, suspended state environment secretary R.K. Sharma, saying he had passed the project. The tussle between Mayawati and Union Culture Minister Jagmohan began when, a day after newspapers reported about the construction, Jagmohan sent her a letter, with a newspaper clipping. The thrust of the letter was that the Centre had not sanctioned the construction. A day after shooting off a second letter ordering 'stop-work', Jagmohan drove to Agra on June 22, 2003 and found work was still on. He also noticed that the construction work had almost touched the wall of the Agra Fort, violating the rule prohibiting construction within 300 metres of monuments. The UP government claimed that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) knew about the project, and that its representative had taken part in a meeting on the project on April 24 and 25, 2003. But the ASI told Jagmohan that its representative had made it clear to the UP officials that the work was being undertaken without any study of what it could do to the Taj's foundation. The ASI also said then that it had even filed a police complaint with the regard to the construction, adding that there was a threat to the width of the River Yamuna, which would affect water flow, and endanger the bank on which the Taj stands. The matter was brought before the Supreme Court, which ordered a CBI inquiry, despite the UP government's promise to hold its own inquiry. In October 2003, the CBI had found assets worth Rs15 crore (3.5 million dollars) in the name of Mayawati and her close relatives during raids conducted in connection with the Taj Heritage Corridor case. The CBI had alleged that construction work of the project, which envisaged linking Taj Mahal with four other monuments - Agra Fort, Itmad-ud-Daula, Chini-ka-Roja and Rambagh - was started on verbal orders of Sharma and was approved by Mayawati. It said that National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) had unauthorisedly sub-contracted the work to a firm, Ikshwaku.

Parliament session likely to be till Aug 30 (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, which was scheduled to conclude on August 25, is likely to be extended till August 30. According to sources, the session will now sit for two more days - 29th and 30th August - to complete the 'heavy agenda of business'. Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will sit till Thursday, since Friday is a holiday on account of Janmashtami, and will resume sitting on August 29 for two moe days, sources informed. Earlier, UPA President Sonia Gandhi had asked Defence Minister and Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee to seek an extension of a few days.

Alleged Indian spy's family threatens suicide by Ravinder Singh Robin (Go To Top)

Bhikiwind (Punjab): Distraught family members of an Indian man awaiting execution in Pakistan on charges being a spy have threatened to commit suicide if their pleas for justice for their son go unheard. Pakistan's Supreme Court had last week upheld the death sentence awarded to Manjeet Singh, whose real name his family say is Sarabjit, for being an agent of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and for masterminding five bomb blasts in the country in 1990. Frantic family members, who claim that Singh is a resident of Bhikhiwind village in India's Punjab had mistakenly crossed over to the Pakistani side in an inebriated state in 1990. Defence lawyers in Pakistan as well had pleaded that Singh was, at most, a smuggler of Indian liquor into Pakistan but the claims were struck down. Singh's family have appealed to New Delhi for help and also written a petition to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf but are yet to hear. Disillusioned they say they will die along with Singh. "We are urging for his safe release. He is neither a RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent nor has he been involved in any bomb blasts. If no one helps us, then we have decided, that we will also die with him," Dalbir Kaur, Singh's sister said in hometown Bhikiwind. "We are also very grief stricken. We worked so much for his release but in vain. . Now we will also commit suicide. Our government has not helped us," Sapandeep, Singh's daughter, added. An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan sentenced Singh to death on October 2, 1990 after which he had appealed to the apex court. Singh would be the first Indian to be hanged in Pakistan. Activists claim hundreds of Indians have been declared deserter and taken prisoner or killed by Pakistani forces.India and Pakistan have gone to war three times since they won independence from Britain in 1947, twice over Kashmir.

Appeal in parliament for alleged India spy (Go To Top)

New Delhi/Bhikiwind: Cutting across party lines, pleas for justice for an Indian man, awaiting execution in Pakistan on charges of being a spy, resounded in Parliament on Monday, as his distraught family threatened to commit suicide if their son was not saved. Pakistan's Supreme Court had last week upheld the death sentence awarded to Manjeet Singh, whose real name the family say is Sarabjit for being an agent of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and masterminding five blasts in the country. Frantic family, who claim that Singh is a resident of Bhikhiwind village in Indias Punjab had mistakenly crossed over to the Pakistani side in an inebriated state in 1990. Defence lawyers in Pakistan as well had pleaded that Singh was at most, a smuggler of Indian liquor into Pakistan but the claims were struck down. Singh's family have appealed to New Delhi for help and also written a petition to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf but are yet to hear from him. Disillusioned, they said they would die along with Singh sparking a massive wave of public sympathy and outrage. S.S Ahluwalia, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, said Singh's case was not isolated and urged New Delhi to intervene immediately.

Three in the running for Pak's new envoy to New Delhi (Go To Top)

Islamabad: Pakistan is mulling over posting either of its three High Commissioners - Asif Aizadee (presently posted in Germany), Shahid Malik (Canada) and Kamran Niaz (Japan) - to New Delhi, to replace the present incumbent Aziz Ahmed Khan, whose two-year contractual term ends next month, The News reported today. The final decision is to be made by the month-end or early next month. Khan was appointed as High Commissioner to India in May 2003, and he assumed office in the first week of July. According to the paper, Pakistan is also planning to change its ambassadors in at least five other countries in a few weeks. Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper further said that Pakistan has decided to appoint Tariq Azizuddin Khan, the chief of protocol at the Foreign Office, as the new ambassador to Afghanistan in place of Akbar Zaib Khan, who assumed office only last month. Pakistan's Ambassador to Qatar Ayaz Wazir Khan will be replaced by Asghar Afridi. Faiz Khosa will be ambassador to Tunisia vice Naeem Jan Khan who has attained the age of superannuation and is retiring early next month. Similarly, Ms Riffat Iqbal has been assigned responsibilities of high commissioner to Zimbabwe. Naeem Khan, spokesman of the Foreign Office, will be Pakistan's ambassador in Manila as Ambassador to the Philippines replacing Iftikhar Kazmi, who has already left for another ambassadorial assignment. Ashraf Qureshi, additional secretary for South Asia and Asia- Pacific region, has been nominated for the slot of high commissioner to South Africa, the sources said.

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