22-04-2012 to 30-04-2012
'Govt not in a position to bring reforms' A political debate began on Friday on government's chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu's reported remarks that major reforms were unlikely before the next general elections in 2014. Kaushik Basu reportedly said this week at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think
"We are going through a difficult year," he said, according to Press Trust of India. Later in the day, Basu clarified that his comments on economic reforms getting a push after 2014 was not linked to India's general election but to a "possible European crisis". "At the Carnegie lecture, the gist of my argument was that 2014 was an important year because numerous European banks would have to begin to repay $1.3 trillion worth of loans that they had received from the European Central Bank," Basu
said in a statement. "Some of this was reported on poorly, juxtaposing my comments on Europe in 2014 with the Indian election of 2014. This is unfortunate, because the central message of my talk was the possible European crisis of 2014 and India's major rise thereafter, likely overtaking China," he said.
tank in Washington, DC, that key reforms "including opening up its retail sector” would probably be put on hold as the government deals with resistance within its coalition, persistent corruption and infrastructure upgrades. Basu said recent scandals over the past year had made government officials unwilling to take risks, but that less important bills might make it through Parliament.
‘Immerse Gandhi’s soil pinch in waters’
Girls under one umbrella trying to protect themselves from unseasonal showers in Ahmedabad on Friday. Most parts of the state received unseasonal rains accompanied by thunderstorm and lightening this morning bringing the temperature down by 5 to 6 degrees.
Lok Adalat to take up compensation agreement The legal heirs of the two fishermen killed by marines aboard the Italian-flagged ship, Enrica Lexie, told the Kerala High Court on Friday that a settlement for paying a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to each bereaved family was reached between the Italian government representatives and them. Counsel for the legal heirs made the submission before the court while seeking its permission to place the settlement before the Permanent Lok Adalat for legal approval. The Italian government filed a petition seeking to implead itself as a respondent in the admiralty suits filed by the legal heirs for compensation for facilitating the settlement process. The agreement produced before the court, signed by both parties, said the Italian government agreed to pay the amount as a mark of mutual respect and as a gesture of international goodwill existing between the two sovereign friendly states and on account of the utmost sympathy towards the legal heirs on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
New Delhi: The blood-soaked pinch of soil from Mahatma Gandhi's assassination site that was auctioned in London should be immersed in river or ocean waters, his granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee on Thursday appealed to its buyer. In a statement, she said auctioning of Gandhi's memorabilia sounds outrageous and one remains helpless as this trend keeps going on.
Security personnel on top of building with automatic weapons keeping vigil during the removal of CRPF bunker at Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of Srinagar city.
Kolkata ragging row
Student slapped 40 times Kolkata: Despite sustained campaign by the media and the government, the menace of ragging does not seem to have lessened. In a fresh case of ragging, a first year student of the Marine Engineering and Research Institute of the Indian Maritime University was allegedly slapped 40 times and made to do more than 500 push-ups by his seniors here, according to report by a news channel. The report further said the 19-year-old has been admitted to a nearby hospital and is reportedly in a very serious condition. He was allegedly tortured by his seniors between 4 am and 7 am on Wednesday morning.
Rtd ar myman g ets lif eter m arm gets lifeter eterm in teen m ur der case mur urder Chennai : A Fast Track Court here today awarded life imprisonment to retired Army Officer K Ramraj in the sensational murder case of teenager Dilshan. Delivering the verdict in a packed court hall, Fifth Fast Track Court Judge Ms Radha said the prosecution has proved the case beyond any doubt.
Fire fighters trying to quell a blaze at the the main market square of Darjeeling. As many as 100 shops were gutted in a major fire at Chak Bazar in Darjeeling district.
Amid flip-flop by Centre, SC lets Italian ship leave he Centre tied itself in knots on Friday, telling the Supreme Court that India had no jurisdiction to detain an Italian ship involved in the shooting deaths of two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala, only to clarify several hours later that the senior legal official who made this dramatic claim on its behalf had given his personal opinion.
Additional Solicitor-General Harin Raval submitted before a Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and H.L. Gokhale that the Italy-flagged tanker, Enrica Lexie, was not in Indian waters when the shooting incident occurred.
Echoing legal arguments made by the Italian government — which wants the two marines now facing serious charges in a Kerala court repatriated to face trial back home — he said the ship was in international waters 20.5 nautical miles off the Indian coast whereas India's territorial jurisdiction extended only up to 12 nautical miles. The ASG's assertion directly contradicts statements by high officials in Kerala as well as the Ministry of External Affairs, which rejected Rome's claim that an Indian court had no right to try its marines for the shooting. (Cyber News)
Petroleum dealers' agitations put off The Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) on Friday decided to defer its proposed agitations, including a protest closure on April 23. It had earlier announced that petroleum dealers would intensify their protest, if required, with an indefinite strike from April 29. The decision followed a meeting the FAIPT representatives had with Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy, in which senior officials of the Ministry and oil companies participated.
Italian govt moves Indian SC for release of 2 marines New Delhi:The Italian government today moved the Supreme Court for quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated against two Italian marines for killing two Indian fishermen in Kerala. The Italian govenment had challenged the Kerala High Court judgement refusing to drop the criminal charges against the two Italians involved in shooting down of two Indian fishermen. The Italian marines are facing charges of murder.
PTI employees go on stir
CEC recommendation for CBI inquiry is not final: Yeddy
News and photo services of news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) were affected throughout the country on Friday, as more than1400 employees, working in 60 news bureaus, went on a day-long strike, demanding immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Justice G. R. Majithia Wage Board for journalists and other employees of newspapers/ news agencies.
Bangalore: Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa today said that recommendation by the Central Empower Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court suggesting a CBI inquiry into land denotification and graft charges against him was not final. ‘CEC is only a recommending authority and it is left to the Supreme Court to accept or reject it.
Kaushik's remark triggers political slugfest New Delhi: Finance ministry chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu's remarks that major reforms were unlikely before the next general elections kicked off a slugfest between the government and the opposition Friday, the BJP accusing the government of "policy paralysis" and a senior minister hitting back that the opposition's non-cooperation prevented bills from getting passed. The Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M) cautioned the government against going on the path of financial reforms while Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP)
ally Janata Dal-United (JD-U) said the economy needed fiscal corrective measures. Media reports cited Basu telling a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace meeting in Washington Wednesday that major economic reforms in India were unlikely to happen before the next parliamentary elections. He is also reported to have referred to corruption scandals and said that decision making had slowed down because of factors such as bureaucracy not taking risks and the coalition nature of government. He said there could be a rush of reforms after 2014 elections. (Agencies)