Never sought debate on ‘secular’, ‘socialist’ words: Prasad
New Delhi: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday denied in Lok Sabha that he had ever sought a debate on the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ in the Constitution’s preamble, an issue which had triggered a controversy. Raising the issue as a matter of personal clarification, he asked Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who had raised the issue, to withdraw his statement. The Chief Whip of Congress had said in the Lower House on February 24 that Prasad had called for a debate on the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’, which were included in the Constitution by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He had said such a statement from a minister was “condemnable”. “What I had said in the press conference was that the Congress should debate whether Jawaharlal Nehru was secular or not as he and leaders like Maulana Azad and Sardar Patel did not include the word ‘secular’ in the Constitution,” Prasad said. He said he was not seeking an apology from Scindia but he must take back his words and the media had mostly reported the matter. Opposition had raised a hue and cry over the issue, while the government had ruled out any proposal to remove the two words. Raising the issue during Zero Hour on February 24, Scindia had said, “Ravi Shankar Prasad (Minister) recently sought a debate on the Preamble. Shiv Sena also supported him. Supreme Court had said several times that these (words) are an inviolable part of the Constitution.” He had also said that this, coupled with events like ‘ghar wapsi’ showed the true face of the Modi government. (PTI)
Central water board asks states to implement model bill
New Delhi: With nearly half of the 29 states in the country yet to implement a model bill to regulate ground water, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has asked them to speed up the process. According to K B Biswas, Chairman of CGWB, 15 states have come out with their own bills to regulate ground water. “Since water is a state subject every state should have have their own rules and regulations. Around 15 states have adopted their own bills and acts for regulations,” he said. State governments, which have not so far formulated their own bills, have been reminded to do so last month. Biswas was speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on integrated and collaborative solutions for water and municipal solid waste management. A comprehensive model bill for regulation of groundwater development and management was circulated to all the states for adoption by the Ministry of Water Resources. The Model Bill provides for the setting up of State Groundwater Authority on similar consideration as the CGWA. It also envisages issue of direction to the state local bodies for making rainwater harvesting mandatory in feasible areas. (PTI)
Govt discussing opening up of legal sector to foreign firms
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has initiated discussions with the Bar Council of India for opening up the Indian legal sector to foreign law firms. The UK and the United States have been pushing successive governments in the country to open up the legal sector to foreign firms but a decision in this regard could not be taken. Earlier this week, Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra held informal talks with Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda in this regard. The government is of the view that the legal sector would be opened up to foreign law firms in a phased manner which would also help the Indian legal fraternity. The view within the government is that once the foreign forms open offices in India, they would be hiring local legal brains to appear before courts. The Commerce Ministry is also keen on this step as it would help in the government’s policy of ‘ease of doing business’ in India. The government is of the view that offices of foreign legal firms in India will help government departments in hiring services of international legal experts in arbitration cases. Mishra said he has held informal talks with Gowda in this regard and they would meet again formally to discuss it. (PTI)
All 6 accused acquitted in British nationals’ killing case
Himmatnagar (Guj): A special trial court here on Friday acquitted all six accused in the 2002 post-Godhra riots case in which three British nationals and their Indian driver were killed at Prantij town in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, for want of evidence against them. Notably, the UK government had then taken a policy decision not have an active engagement with Gujarat government after the three British nationals of Indian origin were killed. UK decided to resume engagement with Gujarat in October 2012. Pronouncing the order in the case investigated by Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, Himmatnagar Principal District Judge I C Shah stated that the prosecution failed to prove the charges levelled against all the accused under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder). “I have no option but to order that the accused are acquitted from the charges,” the judge observed. On February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident, Imran Dawood and his UK-based uncles Saeed Dawood, Shakeel Dawood and Mohammad Aswat were attacked by a mob at Prantij in Sabarkantha. Saeed, Shakeel, Mohammad Aswat and their car driver Yusuf Piraghar, a local, were burnt alive by the mob on National Highway No. 8, while Imran managed to save himself with the help of police. (PTI)
UP govt for single window helpline for quick response to crime
Ghaziabad: Uttar Pradesh government is mulling a ‘single window’ helpline for quick response to crime or medical emergency in the state, a senior official said today. Venkat Changavalli, adviser to UP chief minister, briefed the officers about concept of establishment of an integrated control room at Lucknow for which survey and feasibility checks are being conducted, DSP Ranvijay Singh said. The proposed control room at the state capital will work on the basic principle of ‘single window’ helpline. Any call received at the control room whether that is concerned to crime, medical emergency or any problem, the distress caller situated anywhere in state will be contacted by the concerned department at the shortest interval. Changavalli visited the hi-tech police control room at PAC campus Govind Puram here and issued some guidelines on crime control to district police officials, Singh said. Inspector General of Police of Meerut range Alok Sharma and other officials of the district were also present at the time of inspection. (PTI)