NEWS 4
Monday, August 29, 2011
No power to alter Prez order on clemency: Jaya Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa today said she has no power to alter the Presidential order rejecting the clemency plea of the three Rajiv Gandhi assassins. Making a suo moto statement in the Assembly, Jayalalithaa said, “I don’t have any power to alter the Presidential order rejecting the mercy petitions of the three,” -- Murugan, Perarivalan and Santhan. She appealed to political parties “not to send signals” that she had powers to overturn the Presidential orders and save the three from the gallows. The three, sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, are scheduled to be hanged on Sept 9. The President had twice rejected their mercy petitions of the three who were awarded the capital punishment by a Special Court here, which was upheld by the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court. Charging the DMK president M Karunanidhi with adopting “double standards” and enacting a “fake drama”, Jayalalithaa said Karunanidhi, when he was Chief Minister, had recommended to
Sensex recovers 352 pts Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark sensex recovered sharply by 352 points in the early trade in view of allround buying from operators and investors triggered by firm Asian cues. The Sensex resumed higher at 16,080.74 and shot up further to 16,242.91 before quoting at 16,200.85 at 1015hrs, showing a net gain of 352.02 points or 2.22 per cent from its last weekend’s level. The National Stock Exchange 50-share Nifty also shot up by 102.55 points or 2.16 per cent to 4,850.35 at 10.15 am. Most Asian stock markets gained after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on last Friday said that the US economic recovery will accelerate and the central bank has more means to prop up growth if appropriate. The benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by between 0.76% to 2.81%. IT stocks surged after Bernanke said he is “optimistic” about the long-term prospects of the US economy.
the Governor to reject the mercy petitions of the three and commute the death sentence of Nalini, to life. A decision in this regard was taken on April 19, 2000 at a cabinet meeting chaired by Karunanidhi, she said. It is wrong to say that the Chief Minister had powers to commute the death sentence and save the three lives, Jayalalithaa said and expressed surprise why some political leaders were making such remarks while “knowing well the legal issues involved”. Only the President and the
Governors has the powers to commute death sentences, she noted. She rejected the contention of political leaders that Consti- Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai tution gives powers to the State Municipal Corporation (BMC) togovernment under Article 161. day issued a high tide alert after She said the Union Home Min- heavy rains lashed the city for istry had in 1991, made it clear the third consecutive day disthat when a petition for grant of rupting train services on the Cenpardon in death sentences has tral and Harbour line, throwing earlier been rejected by the Pres- normal life out of gear. According to Met Department, ident, it would not be open for the State government to invoke Colaba recorded 178.6 mm of Article 161 to commute the death rainfall and Santacruz received 232. 6 mm of rainfall since 8.30 sentence. “However, if there is a change am yesterday leading to waterof circumstances or if any new logging in several areas. Following this, the civic body material is available, the condemned person himself or any- issued a high tide alert. “A tide measuring 4.63 mtr one on his behalf may make a fresh application to the President will hit the coast around 12.15 for reconsideration of the earlier pm. Any tide above 4.50 mtr is a order. Once the President has high tide,” a civic official said. rejected a mercy petition, all future applications in this behalf should be addressed to and would be dealt with by the President,” she quoted the Home Ministry’s directive. Almost all major political parties, barring the AIADMK and Bangalore Beat Bureau the Congress have appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene to save the life of the three. PTI Chikmagalore: Nine persons, who were out on a hunting ex pedition, were arrested here last night. The police recovered four country made pistols, two big guns and a jeep from the arrested. The accused had gone inside the Thimmlapura forest in the Bhadra forest reserve and were caught before hunting down wild animals. The Panchanahalli police, who got a specific tipoff, ventured Kumar. “The matter is under into the forest and arrested the my consideration,” Kumar said. nine. During Anna Hazare’s agitaThe nine accused had entered tion at Ramlila grounds on the the forest without proper perLokpal issue, Puri and Bedi had mission and were carrying allegedly targeted politicians weapons to kill animals, the po and used derogatory and defam- lice said. atory language against them. In the Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan told agitated members that the privilege notices given by Ramgopal Yadav (SP) and Md Adeeb (Ind) were under consideration of the Chairman. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House, Yadav said that the film actor dubbed Parliamentarians as “thieves” and “incompetent” while speaking from the stage of Hazare on August 26. He said such statements by the actor is a privilege of MPs and requested the Chair to refer his notice to the Privilege Committee amid thumping of desks by members from all parties. PTI
9 hunters arrested
Privilege notices in Parl against Om Puri & Kiran Bedi
New Delhi: Members in both Houses of Parliament have given Privilege notices against actor Om Puri and civil rights activist Kiran Bedi for using “derogatory and defamatory” language against politicians and the matter is under consideration of the Chair. In the Rajya Sabha, a member also attacked lawyer activist Prashant Bhushan for reportedly saying that legislations are passed by Parliament after taking bribe. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said in the House that notices for moving a Privilege Motion against Puri and Bedi for “allegedly” using “derogatory and defamatory” language against politicians have been received. Kumar said she had received notices from P L Punia, Jagadambika Pal, Ramashankar Rajbhar, Lalchand Kataria, Mirza Aslam Beg, Praveen Aron and Shailendra
Heavy rains paralyse Mumbai; BMC issues high tide alert The weather bureau forecasts intermittent rains in parts of city and suburbs besides heavy to very heavy rains accompained by strong gusty winds will occur in some areas. Following incessant rains, the water levels at Mithi river have rose to 4.2 mtr. “Several hutments near the Mithi river have been evacuated,” civic officials said. Also, 33 people from a resort in Palghar were evacuated by the Mumbai Fire Brigade. The BMC has also closed all its civic-run schools in the city today due to heavy downpour. on railway tracks. monitoring the situation. Trains services on Central and “Train services on Central RailOnce the water recedes on Harbour line were closed tem- way and Harbour line are closed tracks, we will start the services,” porarily following water logging for sometime. We are continously Central Railway PRO A K Singh
NRIs seek time line for Jan Lokpal bill
Washington: Indian-Americans have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to issue a time bound plan to discuss and pass the Lokpal bill, as being sought by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and agreed upon by the Parliament this week. “We hope the Parliament keeps up this spirit of healthy discussion rising above partylines and show the same determination in legislating and ultimately passing the Janlokpal and lokayukta bills. We demand that very soon the government releases a time-bound plan to discuss and pass the bill,” they
said in a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and submitted to the Indian embassy here. A small group of Indian-Americans and mostly Indian students studying in various universities in and around Washington held a “victory meeting” in front of the Gandhi statue at the Indian Embassy in Washington. About 50 Gandhi aka “Anna” caps were flown in by courier service from New Delhi for the occasion for the small gathering of die-hard Anna supporters. Sweets were distributed, wherein the attendees discussed
the future course of action and how they can contribute in their own small way for the anti-corruption movement in India. “Anna Hazare has done something for India, which was never accomplished in post-independent India. We all should come forward to support him,” said Janak Arora, who had flown in the trademark “I am Anna” cap from India. “We hope the Indian Parliament will discuss the Janlokpal bill and present a strong anti-corruption law to the nation soon,” said Umang Agarwal, from the University of Maryland. PTI
Seerʼs massive celebration Photos: G S Ravishnakar
Day after: Ramlila Maidan deserted, clean up on New Delhi: After being the site of Anna Hazare’s anti-graft campaign for the last 10 days, the Ramlila Maidan wore a deserted look today, even as civic workers were busy clearing the sprawling ground of garbage. Traffic around the ground was back to normal as the numerous police barricades on the roads were removed, while a posse of policemen manned
the area. Winding up the piled carpets and tents, a worker at ground said: “The carpets are still damp. The ground is expected to be clean by the end of the day.” The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Waste Management Private Limited (DWMPL) were collectively cleaning up the sprawling ground.
fed holy Manimahesh Lake. The 15-day Manimahesh pilgrimage in the interiors of Chamba district officially began Aug 22. Kumar said more than three lakh people have undertaken the pilgrimage to the Manimahesh Lake so far. Every year, devotees undertake an arduous 14-km trek from the Hadsar base camp, some 65 km from here, to the lake from where they can see Mount Kailash, believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva, and offer prayers. It’s believed that the devotees can have a view of the Mount Kailash only if the lord is pleased. When the peak is hid-
Students fight against graft
den behind clouds, it is a sign of the lord’s unhappiness, the believers say. The state government has also allowed private heli-taxi operators to ferry people during the pilgrimage. The choppers ferry devotees between Bharmour town, known for ‘chaurasi’ or 84 Hindu temples, and Gauri Kund, just one km short of the lake. The to-and-fro fare per person is Rs.7,500. According to organisers, four people have lost their lives during the pilgrimage. Two pilgrims died when they were hit by rolling boulders. IANS
Gangadhar Pujar
A seminar on the Students’ Role Against Corruption was organised by the Anti-Corruption Forum at the Legislators’ Home this morning. Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, former minister B T Lalitha Naik and litterateur Prof Chandrashekar Patil took part in the seminar.
Narang conferred Khel Ratna New Delhi: Ace shooter Gagan Narang, who notched up four gold medals at last year’s Commonwealth Games, was on Monday conferred the country’s highest sporting honour – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here. The 28-year-old rifle shooter, who was the first Indian marksman to qualify for next year’s London Olympics with a bronze in the World Championships last year, was an automatic choice for the prestigious award. Narang, who was disgruntled at being :”ignored:” for the award last year, collected the trophy that consists of a medal, citation and cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh from President Pratibha Patil. Besides winning four gold medals in the 2010 CWG, Narang bagged a silver in the men’s 10m air rifle singles event at the Asian Games last year. He also won a team silver at the Asian Games when he combined with Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput in the 10m air rifle event. Among the Arjuna awardees, the most high-profile among the ones chosen this year – Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan – could not attend the function as he recently underwent surgery on his injured ankle in England. Others who were also not present due to varied reasons were tennis ace Somdev Devvarman, gymnast Ashish Kumar and discus thrower Vikas Gowda. Badminton ace Jwala Gutta and India’s first woman world champion Tejaswini Sawant, who clinched the top honours in the 50m rifle prone event, were among the star athletes who received the Arjuna award. Suranjoy Singh (Boxing), Sunil Chhetri (Football) and Rajpal Singh (Hockey), also collected their trophies personally. PTI
BSY runs to temple after getting out of hospital
Shivaʼs mace procession begins in Himachal Chamba (Himachal Pradesh): The procession of the holy mace of Lord Shiva during the Manimahesh pilgrimage started from here today amidst beating of drums and playing of ‘shehnais’. “The procession of the ‘Charri Yatra’ (holy mace procession) started from the 1,000-year-old Lakshmi Narayan temple in Chamba town,” Additional District Magistrate Neeraj Kumar told IANS. It would reach Manimahesh Lake on Radhashthmi, the birth day of Krishna’s consort Radha, Sep 5, when more than one lakh devotees are expected to take a dip in the oval-shaped, glacier-
said. However, train services on the Western line are running late by only 5-10 minutes. .Water logging has been reported from areas like Hindmata, Milan subway, Vileparle, Dadar, Andheri, Kurla, Santacruz, Vikhroli, Chembur, Sion, Parel and others inconveniencing daily commuters. Rains also affected the air traffic. “Visibility is normal but flights are delayed by 10 minutes. Due to Kochi airport closure two arrivals and four departures of that sector have been cancelled,” a MIAL spokesperson said. So far, no incidients of house and tree colllapse have been reported, officials said. PTI
Massive celebrations were held to mark the 96th birth anniversary of Shivarathrishwara Rajendra Swamiji at the JSS Mahavidhyapeetha at Mysore today. MLA H S Shankarlinge Gowda, Mysore mayor Pushpalatha Chikkanna and others took part. A procession with cultural troupes was taken out through main thoroughfares of the city.
Continued from page 1 After the special puja, he came to the Race Course residence and held talks with his supporters and some legal experts. Those who came to visit him are: ministers Renukacharya, Umesh Katti, Laxman Savadi, Revu Naik Belamagi and Raju Gowda, MLA Belur Gopalakrishna, MP P C Mohan and others. After this, Yeddyurappa decided to attend the Lokayukta special court. Yeddyurappa got discharged from the hospital at 11 am after his anticipatory bail petition was rejected by the Karnataka High Court. It was the third time that Yeddyurappa got admitted to Sagar Hospital since the Lokayukta court started hearing his cases.
GAMBHIR LIKELY TO COME BACK
Leicester: With little improvement in his agonising condition in the last 10 days, India’s opener Gautam Gambhir could be packing his bags to return home. In what could be a big blow to the campaign of the defending world champions in the forthcoming one-day series, Gambhir is likely to suffer the fate of the likes of Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag who came or joined the Indian squad and left without lending significantly to the team’s cause. India has been whitewashed 4-0 in the Test series; lost their number one Test rankings and is in danger of suffering a similar debilitating fate in the oneday series, starting with the first game in Chester-le-Street on September 3. Gambhir had backpedalled to catch a pull by Kevin Pietersen at mid-on on the second day of the final Test at the Oval on August 19 but tripped and fell on his head and subsequently suffered
from a blurred vision. He didn’t open in both innings of the Oval Test and came down late in the order, contributing little by way of runs. Since then, he has visited doctors and got MRI scans done which have shown clean results, yet Gambhir’s condition hasn’t improved. Gambhir’s case could be similar to the one suffered by South African fast bowler Dale Steyn during the Champions’ league last year when he too had backpedalled to take catch Michael Hussey in a semi-final clash between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers bangalore and fell on his head. Steyn’s MRI scans too showed little but the paceman took 3-4 weeks to get himself sorted out. By the looks of it, Gambhir could also suffer a similar fate and be out of action for 3-4 weeks, putting in doubt even his participation when England pay a return visit to India for a one-day series in early October. PTI
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