: Continuing his tryst with the common man, Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi made a surprise visit to the backward Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday and interacted with some labourers.
Gandhi, who arrived here on a two-day visit, took everyone by surprise by departing from his scheduled programme to visit a village, about 100 km from here.
Soon after landing at the international airport at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city centre, the young MP decided to undertake a surprise tour of a village instead of entering the city.
Though a large number of senior Congress leaders had turned up at the airport to receive him, he choose to go alone to the countryside to have first-hand information about labourers enrolled in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The Congress-led government's flagship welfare initiative is aimed at ensuring 100 days of employment to the rural poor every year. The Congress leader en route stopped at a road-side dhaba (eatery) near Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district and had lunch.
He then reached Bhutpur village and interacted with a few labourers to know about the benefits of the scheme and their problems. He also attended a social audit programme of the scheme in a government building.
Officials were not ready to reveal the details of the closed-door interaction and the meeting. Villagers gathered to catch a glimpse of the Congress leader. A beaming Gandhi was seen waving at them and also gave autograph to a few people.
Earlier, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in charge of party affairs in the state M. Veerappa Moily, state Congress party president D. Srinivas and several state ministers accorded a warm welcome to Gandhi at the airport.
M. Jannatham, an MP expelled from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for defying the whip to vote for the Congress-led government in Tuesday's trust vote, was also among the leaders who received him.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi will visit Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the Congress party here, and interact with the leaders and workers.
Later, he will participate at the Aam aadmi ke sipahi camp at Miyapur on the city outskirts. The party workers in the camp are being trained to conduct social audit for government schemes and to disseminate information to people
Saturday, July 26, 2008
India confident of wrapping up N-deal by Sept: Sibal
India is "hopeful" of getting the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and wrapping up its nuclear accord with the US by September, Science and Technology Minister Kabil Sibal said before leaving for Finland and Sweden.
"I will be going to Finland and Sweden tonight. The response is positive," Sibal said in an interview when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG for the deal which seeks to re-open doors of global nuclear business for India.
"Let's see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us," Sibal, who returned from Geneva on Friday morning, said when asked about his impression of skeptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.
Sibal confirmed that the IAEA board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will mass muster with the UN watchdog.
"The process is on. Beyond that I don't want to say anything right now," Sibal added on a cautious note.
"Hopefully, we should be able to," Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.
Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country's relations have grown significantly over the last few years.
Every country counts in the NSG as it operates by consensus.
A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting on August 1.
The NSG process is likely to be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the Congress in September before Washington and New Delhi ink the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Sibal is among a handful of ministers and diplomats who have been deputed by the government to go to various NSG countries and allay their concerns about some aspects of the nuclear deal which they suspect will impinge negatively on global non-proliferation regime.
Sibal's brief is to convince two of the difficult countries in the 45-nation NSG -- Finland and Sweden -- which are known for strong non-proliferation sensitivities and have serious reservations about the very use of nuclear energy on safety and environmental grounds.
Sibal will underline India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its need for environmentally clean nuclear energy to convince his interlocutors about the merits of the deal.
With a tight timeline for wrapping up the nuclear deal in view of the looming US presidential elections, India has scaled up its NSG diplomacy to win over some of the skeptics like Ireland, Finland, Norway, Austria and Australia and New Zealand.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma headed to Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa Friday from Singapore after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and foreign ministers of NSG countries like Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa is a former chair of the NSG. The other three countries are members of the IAEA.
"I will be going to Finland and Sweden tonight. The response is positive," Sibal said in an interview when asked about whether India was confident of getting the support of the 45-nation NSG for the deal which seeks to re-open doors of global nuclear business for India.
"Let's see what happens. We are hopeful they will support us," Sibal, who returned from Geneva on Friday morning, said when asked about his impression of skeptics in the NSG who have some reservations about the nuclear deal.
Sibal confirmed that the IAEA board was meeting on August 1 to decide on approving the India-specific safeguards pact and expressed confidence that the proposed pact will mass muster with the UN watchdog.
"The process is on. Beyond that I don't want to say anything right now," Sibal added on a cautious note.
"Hopefully, we should be able to," Sibal replied when asked whether India was confident of wrapping up the nuclear deal with the US by September as Washington indicated two days ago.
Sibal also underlined that India was hopeful of getting support of China with whom the country's relations have grown significantly over the last few years.
Every country counts in the NSG as it operates by consensus.
A couple of days ago, US ambassador David Mulford had said that the US was keen to convene the meeting of the NSG in the first week of August after the approval of the India-specific safeguards agreement by the IAEA board at its meeting on August 1.
The NSG process is likely to be completed in August so that the 123 agreement can be endorsed by the Congress in September before Washington and New Delhi ink the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement.
Sibal is among a handful of ministers and diplomats who have been deputed by the government to go to various NSG countries and allay their concerns about some aspects of the nuclear deal which they suspect will impinge negatively on global non-proliferation regime.
Sibal's brief is to convince two of the difficult countries in the 45-nation NSG -- Finland and Sweden -- which are known for strong non-proliferation sensitivities and have serious reservations about the very use of nuclear energy on safety and environmental grounds.
Sibal will underline India's impeccable non-proliferation record and its need for environmentally clean nuclear energy to convince his interlocutors about the merits of the deal.
With a tight timeline for wrapping up the nuclear deal in view of the looming US presidential elections, India has scaled up its NSG diplomacy to win over some of the skeptics like Ireland, Finland, Norway, Austria and Australia and New Zealand.
Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma headed to Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa Friday from Singapore after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and foreign ministers of NSG countries like Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa is a former chair of the NSG. The other three countries are members of the IAEA.
Serial blasts in Ahmedabad
Terror struck Gujarat when 17 serial blasts ripped across the city on Saturday evening leaving 15 killed and 30 injured sending a wave of panic. )
The synchronised explosions in the space of 90 minutes in the eastern and western areas after the first blast hit Maninagar at 6.45 pm occurred in 13 places. There were two blasts each in Maninagar--the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi--and in Sarkej targeting a state transport CNG bus and Sangam theatre.
Significantly two hospitals were also the target of attack. An NSG team has been rushed to Ahmedabad.
The low-intensity explosions occurred at eight areas of Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar and Sarangpur bridge, Sarkej and Odhav and created a wave of panic.
There were two blasts in Maninagar and the first blast occurred in this area at 6.45 PM. The second blast here occurred near LG hospital. Maninagar is the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after the multiple explosions in Bangalore in which two persons were killed. The mobile network in the area has completely collapsed.
Police said at least two had died and 25 injured, some of them seriously, in the blasts. The injured have been rushed to civil hospital and LG hospital.
Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in New Delhi there were eight blasts. Unconfirmed reports said there were 13 blasts.
The explosion in the sensitive Sarkej area occurred in a CNG bus.
Some of the bombs were believed to have been placed in cycles eerily similar to the Jaipur blasts on May 13 in which 65 persons died. A couple of bombs were reported to have been placed in tiffin boxes in a modus operandi similar to the explosions outside a Lucknow court last year.
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm.
The synchronised explosions in the space of 90 minutes in the eastern and western areas after the first blast hit Maninagar at 6.45 pm occurred in 13 places. There were two blasts each in Maninagar--the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi--and in Sarkej targeting a state transport CNG bus and Sangam theatre.
Significantly two hospitals were also the target of attack. An NSG team has been rushed to Ahmedabad.
The low-intensity explosions occurred at eight areas of Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar and Sarangpur bridge, Sarkej and Odhav and created a wave of panic.
There were two blasts in Maninagar and the first blast occurred in this area at 6.45 PM. The second blast here occurred near LG hospital. Maninagar is the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after the multiple explosions in Bangalore in which two persons were killed. The mobile network in the area has completely collapsed.
Police said at least two had died and 25 injured, some of them seriously, in the blasts. The injured have been rushed to civil hospital and LG hospital.
Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said in New Delhi there were eight blasts. Unconfirmed reports said there were 13 blasts.
The explosion in the sensitive Sarkej area occurred in a CNG bus.
Some of the bombs were believed to have been placed in cycles eerily similar to the Jaipur blasts on May 13 in which 65 persons died. A couple of bombs were reported to have been placed in tiffin boxes in a modus operandi similar to the explosions outside a Lucknow court last year.
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm.
Who bribed the BJP MPs?
ON THE day the no confidence motion was moved against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ie on Tuesday (July 22), three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of parliament (Members of Parliament) alleged in the Lok Sabha that each of them was promised three crore rupees to refrain from voting. To firm up the deal, each of them was advanced one crore rupees. The said MPs further alleged that the advance of three crore rupees (at one crore rupees apiece) was given by the secretary of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Amar Singh.
CNN-IBN, the TV channel, claimed that it was in possession of the relevant evidence - it was on video. The channel passed on the evidence to the Speaker of the house, Somnath Chatterjee. Presently, it is in the custody of the secretary of the Lok Sabha. According to reliable sources, the Speaker watched the video on Wednesday (July 23).
According to the said reliable source, the video shows the three MPs arriving at Singh’s bungalow on Lodhi Estate on Tuesday (July 22). A man, identified as Sanjeev Saxena addresses them at the drawing room. Another man tells them that the government should win the no-confidence motion and to ensure it, the three MPs should refrain from voting. Simultaneously, he hands them wads and wads of currency, telling them the money is theirs. The three MPs count the money in Saxena’s presence and leave Singh’s bungalow. Subsequently they are interviewed by CNN-IBN and this is also on video. According to the said source, the camera reveals Saxena’s face clearly. But the audio is not clear with the result that none can make out clearly what Saxena says or what the three MPs say. But the camera does not reveal Singh.
But SP maintains that Saxena is a former secretary of Singh, the general secretary of SP. The Parliamentary Secretariat is looking into the matter and if the evidence is found to be genuine, investigation will begin no sooner the Speaker gives permission.
more >> Meanwhile, Shakeel Ahmed, a senior Congress party leader, said that if the Speaker desired to air it, his party would not object to it. Asked to name the people behind ‘operation bribe’, he said that according to rumours, a chief minister’s wife and a leading industrialist, who were allegedly into a joint venture were behind the operation. The currency wads allegedly carried the seal of the State Bank of Indore although he was not sure of it. When asked to comment on the rumour that Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel was amongst those who bribed the MPs, Shakeel Ahmed remarked that Ahmed Patel had offered to quit public life if the same was proved.
CNN-IBN, the TV channel, claimed that it was in possession of the relevant evidence - it was on video. The channel passed on the evidence to the Speaker of the house, Somnath Chatterjee. Presently, it is in the custody of the secretary of the Lok Sabha. According to reliable sources, the Speaker watched the video on Wednesday (July 23).
According to the said reliable source, the video shows the three MPs arriving at Singh’s bungalow on Lodhi Estate on Tuesday (July 22). A man, identified as Sanjeev Saxena addresses them at the drawing room. Another man tells them that the government should win the no-confidence motion and to ensure it, the three MPs should refrain from voting. Simultaneously, he hands them wads and wads of currency, telling them the money is theirs. The three MPs count the money in Saxena’s presence and leave Singh’s bungalow. Subsequently they are interviewed by CNN-IBN and this is also on video. According to the said source, the camera reveals Saxena’s face clearly. But the audio is not clear with the result that none can make out clearly what Saxena says or what the three MPs say. But the camera does not reveal Singh.
But SP maintains that Saxena is a former secretary of Singh, the general secretary of SP. The Parliamentary Secretariat is looking into the matter and if the evidence is found to be genuine, investigation will begin no sooner the Speaker gives permission.
more >> Meanwhile, Shakeel Ahmed, a senior Congress party leader, said that if the Speaker desired to air it, his party would not object to it. Asked to name the people behind ‘operation bribe’, he said that according to rumours, a chief minister’s wife and a leading industrialist, who were allegedly into a joint venture were behind the operation. The currency wads allegedly carried the seal of the State Bank of Indore although he was not sure of it. When asked to comment on the rumour that Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor Ahmed Patel was amongst those who bribed the MPs, Shakeel Ahmed remarked that Ahmed Patel had offered to quit public life if the same was proved.
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