NDA to continue Parliament boycott; Pakistani actress Meera says she is victim of conspiracy; SC dismisses petition to extend term of Mukherjee Commission; CAG report criticises Centaur hotel sale process; Twenty-one more meningitis cases hit Capital; Navy copter crashes near Chennai, all three on board dead; India welcomes Blair's return; Blair gets invitation to form new government; Tony Blair secures historic third term; World Hindu Council leader shot dead in Nepal; BCCI forms six-member committee to select coach; Prince Harry's first public appearance with Chelsy; Why romantic relationships break down?; Paris Hilton says new beau not after her money; Justin Timberlake's voice is back; Carmen Electra is available on eBay; Ozzy Osbourne has Parkin Syndrome; Penelope Cruz joins Christina Aguilera's engagement celebrations; When Spielberg cried over 'Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'; Green misses sexy scenes with Bloom in 'Kingdom of Heaven';India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Friday, May 6, 2005

NDA to continue Parliament boycott

New Delhi: The NDA has decided to continue its boycott of Parliament rejecting the fresh appeal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to end the boycott and discuss all the issues on the floor of the House. The war of words between the government and the opposition intensified today as the NDA accused the PM of showing disregard and insult to the opposition in terming it as childish and false on the floor of the house. The senior leaders of the BJP discussed the PM's statement made in Rajya Sabha on Thursday on the opposition's boycott and also key ally TDP's decision to end its boycott. The BJP led NDA had rejected Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's appeal to end the boycott and decided to continue with its protest for the rest of the budget session till May 13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Thursday slammed reports shown by the BJP that his government had tried to prevent Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who made a landmark visit to New Delhi last month, from meeting Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister credited with having revived and put back on track the almost discarded peace process. The BJP accused Prime Miister with "misleading" the nation on the NDA's Parliament boycott, saying his statement in the Rajya Sabha was "beyond facts". "It is yet another demonstration by the government, through the Prime Minister this time, of the total disregard, absence of respect or consideration for the collectivity of the oppostion. We take serious note of this and I am afraid that if this kind of attitude against the opposition continues, it will be very difficult for us to cooperate with this arrangement of the government," senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told reporters after a meeting of the NDA at Vajpayee's residence. "I regret to having to add that there are innumerable examples already in the one year that the honourable Prime Minister actually does not know what is happening in his own government, he does not control all that is happening in the government and further he, of course he, does not know what is happening his own party," he added. Talking to media, BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj maintained that the PM had never made an honest effort to resolve the situation and his telephonic talks with Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, NDA Chairman Atal Behari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh was "merely a foramality". NDA has been boycotting the parliament session for over a week now seeking the government to dismiss Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Though in a major setback, a key supporter Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday went against the opposition coalition's decision and attended parliament, the NDA has said it would not budge.

Pakistani actress Meera says she is victim of conspiracy (Go To Top)

Bangalore: Pakistani actress Meera, trapped in the controversy over a kissing scene in a Bollywood movie, has said that she is a victim of conspiracy hatched by her enemies. She, however, expressed confidence that her fans back home were unfazed by the issue. Meera's first Indian production "Nazar" with Indian actor Asmit Patel will hit theaters in June. The actress, who entered films in 1995 and has starred in nearly 70 films, has never given a kissing scene before. Censors forbid kissing in Pakistani films. "I was expecting some controversy because there are some people in Pakistan who do not want me work in India. All these were their ill-doings. Till today they do not want me work in Indian films," Meera told reporters here on the sidelines of a product promotional tour in the city. She had earlier alleged that she was receiving death threats from Islamic fundamentalists after media reports splashed news of her being fined by the government. Islamabad has however denied reports. Though India's films are readily available in video stores across Pakistan and are watched by millions on cable television, they are officially banned in theatres. Meera's second Indian venture, "Lal Haveli", portrays a Muslim dancing girl and a Hindu lawyer who fall in love in Rawalpindi, but are torn apart by partition.

SC dismisses petition to extend term of Mukherjee Commission (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed the PIL seeking the extention of the Justice M K Mukherjee Commission inquiring into the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose 60 years ago. The commission's term is ending on May 13, 2005. Dismissing the PIL filed by one Anuj Dhar, the three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Justice D M Dharmadhikari and Justice G P Mathur said that the Commission was appointed on April 14, 1999 and was given a six month extension last November. The apex court asked, "though the mystery has not yet been unravelled, how long can such an inquiry commission go on." The Bench said that now it is upto the Government of India to take a decision whether or not to give extension to the Commission. The Union Government can take further action on the report as per the Commission of Inquiry Act, the Bench added. As per official records, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was killed in a plane crash on August 18, 1945 in Taiwan but the Commission, after visiting the country, found that there was no official records pertaining to any crash in August/September 1845, said Vijay Hansaria, counsel for the petitioner. Requesting for the extension to the term of the commission the counsel for the petitioner said that the commission's finding has further given twist in the disappearance theory and if the work of the Commission was wind up abruptly, the mystery would never be unravelled.

CAG report criticises Centaur hotel sale process (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its report, has said that the multi-million dollar sale of two state-owned hotel properties under the previous NDA regime was hasty, lacked proper evaluation and allowed no competitive bids. Located at prime locations in Mumbai, the two Centaur hotels were owned by the Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), an ailing subsidiary of the state-owned flag Air India. The CAG report says, "the efforts made to balance the need and urgency to sell the properties and to obtain the best possible price from the sale were not evident". The report further criticizes severely the procedure saying the assumptions made during valuation and fixation of reserve price were not consistent with the practice followed by the ministry, which was on an aggressive divestment spree during that tenure, in other cases.

The CAG observes that repeated extensions and relaxations were allowed to the bidder of Juhu Centaur, the Tulip Hospitality Services Pvt Ltd, to facilitate the sale. The left parties, who have bitterly opposed many of the privatisation bids, have sought an enquiry into the matter. "It is very clear that the Centaur airport hotel and the Centaur Juhu hotel both have gross irregularities, where did the money come from, why were they undervalued, why was there so much haste. On the basis of this report we demand from the finance minister and the government of India to hold a CBI inquiry into the entire matter," Dipanker Mukherjee, a CPI (M) leader said. The latest report comes barely two days after Arun Shourie, former disinvestments minister in the then NDA regime, came under fire in the parliament on the hotel sales with the finance minister himself implicating Shourie in the deals. A furious BJP has come out in full support of Shourie, who has challenged the government to an open enquiry, saying the CAG report presents only a partial view of the issues. "You must understand that the Comptroller and Auditor General after all only audits the account, Comptroller and Auditor General cannot judge the system and there if that is observation we are perfectly ready for it to be fully examined", senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told a news conference in New Delhi. "They need not wait for anything. The responsibility is mine, the decisions were taken by assignment and they can begin the inquiry with the CVC, CBI anytime, anywhere, any question. I don't need an eminent (person) like Chidambaram, I don't need any officer to be present, I don't need any piece of paper from the government," Shourie told reporters on Thursday after the allegation were levelled in the parliament. The CAG report says that bids were received in October 2000 from 20 parties for Juhu Centaur and 21 parties for Airport Centaur. In case of Juhu Centaur, three parties were disqualified and 16 withdrew and in case of Airport Centaur, four were disqualified, 13 withdrew and the remaining four opted out, implying that both sales were finally single member transactions.

Twenty-one more meningitis cases hit Capital (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The meningitis outbreak in the Capital is still not under control with 21 fresh cases being reported today. There are reports that till today, 112 cases have been reported, of which 21 are new. The death toll so far is 15. The Capital is already facing a shortage of vaccines for the rare and extremely fatal strain of bacterial meningitis with hundreds rushing to chemist shops and hospitals for vaccine shots. The State government on Thursday said that 12 new cases of Menigococcal disease had been reported in New Delhi in the last 24 hours adding that it was facing a vaccine shortage. State Health Minister Yoganand Shastri, assured that the shortfall would be overcome in a few days. "The reports are correct, there is a shortage of vaccines. Few hospitals like Apollo have them but there is a definite shortage. We have called in all agencies and companies that bid for the medicines and we will immediately buy the vaccines from whosoever it is available," Shastri told reporters. The disease, spread through direct contact with infected droplets from the mouth or nose, has returned to the city with a population of nearly 14 million after two decades.

The last major epidemic in the country occurred in 1999 with 686 deaths and over 7,400 reported cases. The capital was not affected by that outbreak. This week scores of people have been lining up at drug stores to privately buy the vaccine as government hospitals turn down immunization request for those not infected. Parents of young children and infants are particularly worried, as the toddlers are most susceptible to the disease. "Yes I am worried. I have small children also and I am worried that nobody in my family gets it and we are taking as much preventive care as we can to avoid coming in contact with this," said Mani Lal, a father. Health authorities meanwhile are appealing people not to panic as the disease could be treated with antibiotics and there was enough stock of medicine. "The rush that is there for the vaccines is uncalled for, there is no need for this. People must not think that they are in immediate need for vaccine and without it they are unsafe. In fact even if you put the vaccine, there is a window period and it will be a while before they take effect where as medicines like Ciprofloxicin which we are recommending take immediate effect," S.K Aggarwal, the principal health secretary said. Meningitis is an infection of the fluid in a person's spinal cord and of the fluid that surrounds the brain. It's a cyclical disease with symptoms ranging from high-grade fever, loss of consciousness and hemorrhage. Doctors say if not treated in time, it can lead to multi-organ failure.

Navy copter crashes near Chennai, all three on board dead (Go To Top)

Chennai: Three naval persons were killed in an Indian Navy Chetak crash near the Naval air station of Arakonam, about 50 km from Chennai this evening. A Naval spokesman said that the mishap occurred at 4 PM about two km from the Naval air station in a deserted area. He said that a court of inquiry has been ordered into the crash. Lt Cdr D Poddar, was flying the helicopter alongwith Sub Lt B Manoj and Naval Diver G Karla. All of them were killed. On March 31, Haryana Agriculture Minister and Bansi Lal's son Surender Singh and noted industrialist and Power Minister O P Jindal were killed in a chopper crash in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district. The chopper's pilot had also died in the crash. Preliminary investigation had indicated that the helicopter's engine had suffered some technical snag. Earlier, a civilian chopper had crashed in Assam in which a noted social worker and others had died.

References: NDA Parliament boycott, Pakistani actress Meera, Mukherjee commission term, CAG Centaur hotel sale, Meningitis capital Delhi, navy copter crash Chennai, India Blair, Tony Blair third term, world Hindu council leader shot Nepal, BCCI committee coach, prince Harry public appearance Chelsy, romantic relationships, Paris Hilton beau, Justin Timberlake voice, Carmen Electra Ebay, Ozzy Osbourne Parkin syndrome, Penelope Cruz Christina Aguilera, Spielberg Episode Revenge of the Sith, green sexy scenes Bloom Kingdom of Heaven, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times, News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival, Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi, Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram, Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai,

Previous File Go To Top