Centre rejects 'incomplete' Phukan report; Inquiry into Centaur deal soon: Chidamabaram; Parliament clears WMD Bill by voice vote; Budget Session ends with a 'mixed feeling'; 5 TDP activists killed in Anantpur; Indo-China border trade through Nathula from Sept; Street protests held in Capital against series of rape; Two children, one man killed in J&K blast; Bollywood finally says no to vulgar film posters; Brad Pitt calls his marriage break-up 'beautiful'; 'Elizabeth Taylor' gives 'Cannes' a miss; Costner, Kutcher cast in 'The Guardian'; Diaz kisses friend while Timberlake is in hospital; Rebecca Loos and Abi Titmuss at loggerheads; Ronaldo splits with his fiancie'; Eminem auctions autographed gold bricks on ebay; Charles joins Camilla on yachting holiday; 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 13, 2005

Centre rejects 'incomplete' Phukan report

New Delhi: The Centre today rejected the Phukan Commission report, which probed the Tehelka expose into fictitious defence deals, immediately after tabling it in both Houses of Parliament. The government termed the report as "incomplete" and pointed out that it investigated only the procedures of defence procurement, and did not look into the allegations of corruption. "The report is not complete. Therefore, the Government has rejected it," an official spokesperson said. Earlier, the government said that it was not mandatory to table the report in the Parliament as it was "part report" of the Commission but it was being presented on the direction of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The ''Part-Report'' was placed along with an accompanying note under sub section (4) of section (3) of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952. In an "accompanying" note on the report of the Commission, which was to investigate 15 major defence deals concluded in '90s including acquisition of Russian Sukhoi warplanes, T-90s tanks, Israeli 'Barak' missile system and British Advanced Jet Trainer, the Government said the panel has "given its report only in two of the terms of reference instead of four made to it. The government also said that CBI is investigating the matter and it would wait for its findings before taking any further action. The Commission has come under intense criticism its Chairman Phukan came under attack recently after media reports that he had used air force aircraft and helicopters for his trip to various places including Shirdi and Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra as part of a visit for inspection of gun systems. According to the media reports, the Commission has given clean chit to former Defence Minister George Fernandes. Meanwhile, Justifying the decision to give an air force aircraft to Justice S N Phukan for his trip to Maharashtra, Fernandes has said if he had not provided it then he could have been accused of not cooperating with the probe. The retired Supreme Court judge has maintained that he had not sought the aircraft, which was requisitioned by the Commission. He said he did not know he was not entitled.

Inquiry into Centaur deal soon: Chidamabaram (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday announced that the government would order an inquiry into the controversial sale of Centaur hotels, which drew CAG indictment and evoked a political outcry soon. ''The government has examined the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the sale of two hotels of Hotel Corporation of India and it has decided to hold an inquiry into it,'' he told the Lok Sabha. The sale of the government-owned Centaur hotels in Mumbai, which took place in 2002 during the NDA rule, aroused a demand, mainly from among Left members, for a CBI probe. During a discussion in the Lok Sabha last week they alleged that the Juhu Beach and Juhu Centaur hotels were undervalued and sold to a single bidder at a throwaway price without adhering to the normal procedures. In reply to the discussion, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said the government was awaiting the final report of CAG before taking any decision on inquiry. He quoted from available documents virtually accepting some of the allegations and also described former Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie as having had an ''active interest'' in the whole process of sale. The CAG, in its final report, tabled in Parliament on Friday last, had found discrepancies in the sale of the two hotels observing that there was no proper valuation and the sale was made to a person who had no capacity to pay the price. The report also observed that the provision of bank guarantee was not made effective even though the payment was delayed. The government has decided to order an inquiry into the sale of the two Mumbai Centaur hotels.

Parliament clears WMD Bill by voice vote (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Parliament passed the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems Bill on Friday, the last day of its Budget Session, even as External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh reiterated that India stands committed to safeguarding its security as a nuclear weapon state. Singh also hoped the United Nations would provide a positive response to the India's claim for a permanent membership in the Security Council. ''It is not the world of 1945 but of the 21st century and we hope the world body will realise it and respond positively,'' he said replying to debate on The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Bill, 2005, which was later passed by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday. He said India was committed to safeguarding its security as a nuclear weapon state but, at the same time, India's policy had always been not to assist, encourage or induce any other country to manufacture Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Singh said India remains committed to preventing non-state actors and terrorists from acquiring WMD and their means of delivery. He said the UN Security Council was now discussing the Non- Proliferation Treaty but it would not affect India as it was not a signatory to the treaty like Pakistan and Israel. ''Even if it is enforced, we do not come in the way,'' he said. Singh also informed about the substantive improvement made by India in its relations with China and Pakistan, saying India was ready to adopt confidence-building measures with China in nuclear field. About Pakistan, he however said India had made an offer of ''no first use'' of nuclear weapons but Islamabad had not responded so far. About the Bill, he said in view of the country's status of nuclear weapons and its international commitment, it was felt necessary to introduce an overarching legislation to prohibit unlawful activities in relation to WMD, their means of delivery and related dual use materials, equipment and technologies. As such, the Bill will provide an integrated legislative basis to its commitment to prevent proliferation of WMD. In addition, the envisaged control over the export of WMD-usable materials, equipment and technologies will also fulfill the mandatory obligations pursuant to the UN Security Council Resolution 1540. The same views were repeated by the spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Navtej Sarna, at his daily media briefing at Shastri Bhavan.

Budget Session ends with a 'mixed feeling' (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The Budget Session, 2005, of the Parliament came to an end today with both Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh regretting the boycott by the Opposition, which lasted for 13 working days. In a statement made in the Lower House, the PM said that this session ended with a "mixed feeling" even as the House was disrupted by the Opposition and later boycotted after casting aspersions on the Speaker. Severely criticising the Opposition's decision, Dr Manmohan said that people elect their representatives to voice their problems inside the legislatures and not to remain absent from them. In the concluding part of his statement, Singh expressed hopes that the Opposition would actively attend the next session of the Parliament. Showering praise on the Speaker, the PM said, "we are fortunate to have you as Speaker whose has qualities of both mind and heart." Later, the Speaker expressed his unhappiness at the increasing number of absentees, to the extent that on several House proceedings could not start on time because of lack of quorum. He also put forth his advice to the Opposition to give up the idea of boycotting the Parliament in future. In the Budget session, which began on February 25, a total of 38 sittings took place for over 211 hours. As many as 81 reports were presented, and around 700 questions put up by MPs. But only 116 could be orally answered. At this the Speaker later told media persons that the MPs themselves should restrain themselves from asking unnecessary supplementary questions to avoid wasting the valuable time of the House.

5 TDP activists killed in Anantpur (Go To Top)

Hyderabad: Five TDP activists have been killed and several injured in police firing in Penukonda in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh after clash between Opposition workers and police during filing of nomination papers for the June 2 by- election. Preliminary information put the death toll at five, DIG (Anantapur Range) N Jayarami Reddy, who is now in Tirupati said. Tension prevailed at the office of Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) during filing of nomination papers by TDP candidate P Sunitha, widow of slain TDP MLA Paritala Ravindra. The trouble started when a group of TDP workers started pelting stones at policemen on duty, police said. The police first cane-charged the workers but when the situation turned serious, they opened, police said. Angry TDP activists later went on a rampage torching buses and other private vehicles in the town.

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