Petrol pump owners intensify struggle for uniform VAT rates for diesel

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 20 (ANI): The Delhi Petrol Dealers” Association staged a peaceful demonstration here on Thursday over its demand for uniformity in Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel in Delhi and adjoining states.

Around 100 dealers took part in the protest and marched towards Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit”s residence with a bouquet of flowers.

“All these years, our VAT rates have always remained equal as of Haryana. So, we have only one demand that our VAT rates should remain equal now also. If in future, diesel rates in Haryana increase even to 30 rupees, we don”t mind the same rates,” said Jugal Batra, a former DPDA president.

The dealers placed the flowers outside Dikshit”s residence, while Batra went inside to discuss the problem.

After the meeting, Batra said Dikshit had assured him that she would look into the issue after consulting Finance Ministers of neighbouring states and representatives of the VAT committee.

“We will take some time to work it out,” he added.

On April 9, petrol station owners had called off their strike after Dikshit assured that their grievances would be addressed within 15 days.

Delhi has announced an increase in VAT on diesel from 12.5 percent to 20 percent. The sale of diesel has gone down by more than 40 percent, forcing both motorists and truck drivers to head for petrol pumps in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida because of the price difference.

It has been reported that the diesel has become cheaper by Rs 3.50-4 in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The price of diesel in Haryana is Rs 34.22, whereas in New Delhi, it is Rs 38.10. (ANI)

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Delhi petrol pumps owners protest VAT hike, observe shutdown

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): Petrol pumps in Delhi are observing a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel by the Delhi Government on Friday.

Over 400 petrol pumps in Delhi are said to have downed their shutters.

Pump owners say oil sales have gone down by over 40 percent since the price hike.

“Diesel sales have reduced by 50 percent in June 2008 and have reduced by another 40 percent this year. This has made it unviable to run several petrol pumps. There are 20,000 families dependent on us and its becoming tough to even give out salaries,” said Atul Peshawaria, president, Delhi Petrol Dealers Association.

Peshawaria added that the association has sent repeated representations to the government but to no avail.

“We don”t want to inconvenience the people. But there seems to be no other way out. The government is completely unwilling to listen to us. If the sales have dropped so much, how can the government make more money on taxes?” Peshawaria questioned.

In Haryana, the price of diesel has been cut by Rs 3.88 where as in UP it will be cut by 68 paisa.

A litre of diesel costs Rs 34.75 in Haryana, as against Rs 38.10 in Delhi.

Pump owners said that due to hike in VAT, the motorists are choosing Noida, Faridabad or Guragaon which are under the NCR, to get a fill.

On April 9, the pump owners had called off their strike, following the assurance of Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit that their grievances will be addressed within 15 days.

Meanwhile, autorickshaw unions are also planning an indefinite strike from May 17 demanding to increase in minimum fare. (ANI)

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Bhopal gas victims seek details of Nuclear Liability Bill from PMO

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, described as one of the world”s worst ever industrial disasters, have filed a Right to Information (RTI) petition with the Prime Minister”s Office (PMO) here.

The RTI plea wants to know whether the Central Government took into consideration the disaster of gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal in 1984 while drafting the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill with the USA.

Representatives of three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Children against Dow Carbide – accompanied the victims to the PMO.

It may be recalled that over 50 victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy walked over 800 kilometres on foot from Bhopal to New Delhi and met the Prime Minister in 2008.
The government had then their assured them that an empowered commission would be constituted to address grievances and would initiate remedial measures.

Citing that assurance of 2008, the protestors alleged that nothing has been done so far.
“When we came on a foot march to New Delhi to meet the Prime Minister in 2008, at that time the government assured us that they would form an empowered commission to address the demands of victims like removal of hazardous waste, treatment of contaminated water, pensions to widows etc. among others but we have not received anything,” said Zakiya, a victim.

The protestors also questioned the amount included in the Nuclear Liability Bill. The Bill which proposes a liability cap of 300 million dollars on the supplier in case of a mishap.
“They want to find out how the cap of 450 million dollars was fixed because this is even less than what the Bhopalis were paid as compensation and which was not sufficient enough to meet the medical expenses for five years,” noted Satinath Sarangi, an activist of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by wind to surrounding slums.

The government says around 3,500 died in the disaster. Rights activists, however, claim that 25,000 people have died so far. (ANI)

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AIDS/HIV affected people stage a mass silent in New Delhi

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 4 (ANI): Over 500 outreach workers and representatives of state-level positive network, NGOs and others staged a demonstration here on Tuesday to protest against the termination of the services of 1000 outreach workers.

Highlighting other grievances of this sector, they voiced their displeasure and ire at the failure of the government to provide second line treatment.

“We have outreach workers who are working and most of them are people who are suffering from HIV. In this project the salary of outreach workers was rupees 2500 per month. They are terminated without any information and without job it is very difficult to sustain their life because they have their children, they have to look after their whole family,” said Jhanvi Goswami, organisation head of INP+.

“For this reason, we have come here, all other HIV positive people including me have come here to protest,” she added.

The INP+ has demanded immediate reinstatement of all the retrenched 1000-outreach workers with arrears paid for the period of their unemployment. They have also demanded that the monthly salaries of these workers should be increased from the present Rs 2500 to at least Rs 6000 per month.

Reportedly, the government terminated the services of the outreach workers without any discussion with Indian Network of People living with AIDS/HIV (INP+), the NGO that was the channelising and monitoring agency. (ANI)

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UN’s Ban urges Bissau order after army boss ousting

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

* President, PM hold talks after army chief ousted

* PM Gomes receives threat by new army boss

* UN’s Ban urges talks between civilians, military

By Alberto Dabo

BISSAU, April 2 (Reuters) – Guinea Bissau’s leaders held emergency talks on Friday after renegade soldiers ousted the army chief, with the United Nations appealing for a return to order in the fragile West African state.

The new chiefs of the country’s armed forces, long a source of instability in a country which is a major drugs trafficking route to Europe, denied their seizure of military command on Thursday had been an attempt to overthrow the government.

Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, who was briefly held by soldiers on Thursday, rushed in a police convoy to the palace of President Malam Bacai Sanha on Friday morning, a Reuters witness in the capital said.

Sanha played down the affair as an internal army dispute, but there was concern it would undermine his efforts to bring stability to the country since soldiers assassinated his predecessor Joao Bernardo Vieira in March 2009.

“(U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) calls on the military and political leadership … to resolve differences by peaceful means and to maintain constitutional order and ensure respect for the rule of law,” Ban’s office said in a statement.

Yet Gomes Junior’s political future remained in question after the new armed forces chief issuing a stark warning to him and supporters who had protested against his temporary detention by the soldiers behind the command grab on Thursday.

“If the demonstrators do not leave the streets, I will kill them all, and I will kill Carlos Gomes Junior,” General Antonio Njai told a news conference shortly after former armed forces chief of staff Admiral Jose Zamora Induta was arrested.

FORMER COUP SUSPECT

The core of the grievances between Njai and Gomes was not clear in a country where the army — which credits itself with a decisive role in wresting independence from Portuguese in 1974 — has long jostled for power with civilian leaders.

But a Western diplomat in the capital said it was linked to a simultaneous incident on Thursday in which soldiers entered a U.N. compound in the capital and emerged with the chief suspect in a failed 2008 coup bid who had sought refuge there.

The suspect, former navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto, is an ally of Njai and was due to be handed over to Gomes’s government. Na Tchuto was by Njai’s side at the news conference on Thursday.

The instability in Guinea-Bissau, whose meagre $400 million-a-year formal economy is based on cashews and phosphates, has not tended to spill over to neighbouring Senegal or its equally unstable larger neighbour Guinea.

But it has become a hub for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Latin American cocaine trafficked into Europe, and U.S. officials had raised concerns of it becoming a “narco-state” comparable to Afghanistan under its former Taliban rulers.

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Blast in Yemeni prison allows 40 prisoners to escape

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thu, Apr 1 03:43 PM

A bomb exploded in a prison in the southern Yemeni province of Dalea on Thursday, injuring four inmates and allowing around 40 prisoners to escape, a government official said.

Witnesses and southern media said all those who fled the police jail belonged to Yemen’s southern secessionist movement, which opposes the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Recent months have seen increasingly violent clashes between separatists and security forces, and analysts say impoverished Yemen could face a sustained insurgency from southerners unless the government seriously addresses their grievances.

North and South Yemen united in 1990, but many in the south — home to most of Yemen’s oil industry — complain northerners have seized resources and discriminate against them.

Elsewhere in Yemen’s south, an activist was shot dead and three others were injured when security forces dispersed a protest in the city of Radfan in Lahej province.

Western countries and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa; writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Blast in Yemeni prison allows 40 prisoners to escape

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – A bomb exploded in a prison in the southern Yemeni province of Dalea on Thursday, injuring four inmates and allowing around 40 prisoners to escape, a government official said.

World

Witnesses and southern media said all those who fled the police jail belonged to Yemen’s southern secessionist movement, which opposes the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Recent months have seen increasingly violent clashes between separatists and security forces, and analysts say impoverished Yemen could face a sustained insurgency from southerners unless the government seriously addresses their grievances.

North and South Yemen united in 1990, but many in the south — home to most of Yemen’s oil industry — complain northerners have seized resources and discriminate against them.

Elsewhere in Yemen’s south, an activist was shot dead and three others were injured when security forces dispersed a protest in the city of Radfan in Lahej province.

Western countries and neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa; writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; editing by Andrew Roche)

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Younis Khan’s reservations against ban will be removed: PCB

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Mar.31 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is ready to remove all the reservations of banned former captain Younis Khan, which he had raised in his letter to the board.

Sources in the PCB said that the board has advised Younis’s counsel to appeal against the indefinite ban imposed on him in accordance with the board’s law, The News reports.

Earlier, PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi had said that the board is considering the written communications from all rounder Shahid Afridi and former captain Younis Khan as ‘letters’ and not as appeals against the penalties slapped on them.

Rizvi, said none of the players have filed ‘proper’ appeals with the board against their punishments.

“What Younis and Afridi have sent are letters in which they have outlined their grievances over the penalties imposed on them and asked for the reasons behind the punishments,” Rizvi said.

He said that as per the PCB’s constitution if a player files a proper appeal against his ban or fine, it would be presented before an appellate tribunal formed by the board to hear the grievances.

“The PCB will at best act like a post office and the appellate tribunal will decide on the merit of the appeals,” Rizvi said.

The PCB has given 30 days time to players to appeal against the ban and fines imposed on them. (ANI)

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Journalism has a vital role to play in progress of a nation: Kapil Sibal

March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, March 22 (ANI): Union Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal on Monday said that the journalism has a vital role to play in the progress of a nation.

Addressing during a programme related to the giving away of IPI-India Awards for Excellence in Journalism for the year 2009 in the national capital, Sibal said that the two key entities for democracy were Free Press and Free Judiciary.

On the aspect of freedom of speech, Sibal reminded the journalists that it does not merely mean passing adverse comments on any issue, event or a person but speaking for those millions who do not have the voice to express their grievances and make them heard.

In the same vein, Sibal also had a dig at politicians when he mentioned that a majority of the leaders do have the voice to say that they rarely use and it is the media that lets them speak. That is how he would define freedom of speech, Sibal stated.

Touching about the ‘Trial by Media’, Sibal said it has emerged due to the failure of the obligatory machinery of law.

Further, Sibal regretted the fact that these days several editors assign beats to journalists who lack the basic knowledge of the subject matter.

As such, he suggested, the journalists should cultivate commitment, passion, and attitude in their profession.

Earlier, Dr. Justice A. S. Anand, former Chief Justice of India had raised the topic of trial by the media.
He said that two odd trends in the media of late are against journalistic ethics namely; the media trial and the paid news.

The IPI-India Award for the year 2009 were presented to Bidisha Ghosal of The Week magazine for her in-depth coverage on sexual exploitation of the widows in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra after their farmer husbands had committed suicide.

The other award winner was Indian Express. It was conferred for the daily’s exposition of radical Hindus being the masterminds in the Malegaon blasts.

IPI-India is the Indian chapter of the Vienna-based International Press Institute, a forum of editors, media experts and journalists, and it is committed to free press. (ANI)

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Address Malaysian-Indian concerns in 10th Malaysia Plan, Govt. urged

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Mar. 20 (ANI): The Malaysian Government should address the grievances of its 1.8 million-strong Indian population in the 10th Malaysia Plan, according to a researcher.

The Star Online quoted Dr Denison Jayasooria, a principal research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, as saying that most government agencies did not seriously look into issues like crime, violence, urban poverty, inadequate infrastructure for Tamil schools and low recruitment and promotion opportunities for Indians.

He added that Indian youngsters must change their mindset so they can cope with the rapid economic development. (ANI)

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Yemeni police reported dead in south Yemen clash

March 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ADEN, March 1 (Reuters) – At least three Yemeni policemen were killed on Monday and five wounded, residents said, in a clash with gunmen in south Yemen, where separatists are campaigning against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Residents reported that the fighting took place in Abyan province after Abyan, Dalea and Aden saw demonstrations on Sunday over the arrest of 21 people accused of rioting.

A government source in Sanaa said the exchange took place when security forces tried to arrest an arms dealer suspected of supplying the separatists. The source said only two died.

People in the south, home to most Yemeni oil facilities, complain that northerners have abused the 1990 agreement uniting the country to grab resources and discriminate against them.

Yemen’s government struck a truce on Feb. 11 with Shi’ite rebels who have been fighting over religious, economic and social grievances in the north, allowing the authorities in Sanaa to turn attention to the southern separatist movement as well as al Qaeda militancy.

Yemen rose to the forefront of Western security concerns after the Yemeni arm of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December.

Western governments and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen to recruit and train militants to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

A policeman was shot dead in an ambush in the south last week. Demonstrators at the weekend carried the flag of the former South Yemen, which united with the north under the presidency of veteran ruler Saleh in 1990. (Reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf and Mohammed Sudam; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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BSNL to set up additional 1000 mobile towers

November 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

CHENNAI: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today said that as part of enhancing its service to subscribers, the telecom operator would
set up additional 1,000 mobile towers in State.

“We will set up 1,000 more towers in state over the next six months,” BSNL-Chennai Telephones Chief General Manager A Subramanian told reporters here.

By setting up such mobile towers, customers would have a better “connectivity” in their BSNL phone, he said.

Accepting that there was not proper connectivity and calls were dropped, he said they would also set up a “complaint cell” in their website www.chennai.bsnl.co.in. for enabling customers to voice their views.

“We will shortly set up this facility so that customers would be able to convey their grievances and the areas which does not provide proper connectivity”, he said.

Subramanian was here to officially announce the commercial
launch of “3G” service in city.

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UK commander says dialogue with Taliban insurgents necessary to end Afghan war

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Kabul, Sep 18(ANI): In an ambitious aim to help bring an end to the eight-year war in Afghanistan by persuading the Taliban to lay down their arms, British Army Lt. Gen Sir Graeme Lamb said that many Taliban activists have “done nothing wrong”, rather they have taken to arms as “they have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed”.

While addressing a gathering at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) headquarters in Kabul, Lamb insisted that a dialogue with the Taliban insurgents is necessary to end the cold war.

“We need to take a good look at the people we consider to be our enemies. A lot of young men fighting us have not done anything wrong. They have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed. The better life they expected has not materialized, these are the people we must talk to, but we must make sure we have something to offer them,” The Independent quoted Lamb, as saying.

Lamb further highlighted that the NATO and British forces where not in Afghanistan to give up people’s freedom, and said: “What we do have to do is combine new culture and old culture and work out something that works. We will be listening to what our Afghan colleagues say. I will work very closely with them and let them set conditions.”

Lamb also said that their primary motive is to bring those Afghanistan citizens back into the society, who have been forced out of their society for no fault of their own.

“Judge us by not just what we say, the promises we make, but what we do, what we deliver at the end,” Lamb said. (ANI)

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Bridging gap between youth and police in Kashmir

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, Sep 12 (ANI): Youth in Srinagar got a chance to voice their views and grievances against the security forces at a pro-active meet held recently here.

Jointly hosted by the All India Centre for Rural and Urban Development (AICURD), the New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation and the Kashmir University’s Department of Students Welfare, the meet was aimed to bridge the gap as well as mistrust between the youth and the security forces in the valley.

Since last year, there has been rising anger amongst the people of Kashmir against the police.he meet addressed vital issues to lessen that anger, hatred and contempt.

“The attempt was to tell these people the truth and arouse their conscience and listen to their views about us so that we can improve ourselves,” said Hemant Kumar Lohia, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Central Range, Kashmir.

The students got ample scope to speak out their concerns and complaints before the top brass of the police and allied security forces.

The meet turned out to be an ideal platform for the youth to speak out their minds freely.

“The police are a force which is meant for protection of people. For the first time we got such a platform where we could interact with the police and put forth our views, it is a very good platform,” said Feroze Parry, a student.

The organisers of the meet were confident that the meet would help to dispel the hatred to a great extent.

“We hope that these discussions will help in lessening the hatred amongst the youth towards the security forces. And we can hope for a better Kashmir,” said Anupama Behen of AICURD. (ANI)

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Taliban now terrorise 80% of Afghanistan after eight years of war: Report

September 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Kabul, Sep. 11 (ANI): Almost eight years after the war began in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 carnage, the Taliban insurgency has spread across 80 percent of the country.

The violent incidents this week have drawn attention to the deteriorating security situation of northern Afghanistan, which had largely remained peaceful so far, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

The northern provinces are facing difficult times as heavy insurgent activity has spread to 80 percent of the country – up from 54 percent two years ago, the report says.

The militants’ focus has shifted to northern parts following continuous pressure from their Pakistani counterparts to attack NATO’s second supply route situated here, it adds.

“[Militants] have been trying to widen the ground for the insurgency in Afghanistan and now they have got momentum. The militants are eager to target this route to prevent a smooth supply chain from northern Afghanistan,” the report quoted Waliullah Rahmani, executive director of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, as saying.

Last week’s airstrike targeted two fuel tankers headed to supply NATO troops in Kabul that had been hijacked by the Taliban.

Although the increase in violence is only a recent phenomenon, the conditions had worsened long ago, the report says.

The violence can be linked to districts with large Pashtun populations, whose grievances the government has failed to address – making them sympathetic to the Taliban, who share their ethnicity and language, it adds.

“The districts which are turning violent are those which have had a very recent history of abuses against the Pashtuns.

The government has allowed these conditions to go unaddressed and this is now being addressed by the population by giving shelter to the Taliban and other insurgents,”the report quoted Prakhar Sharma, the head of research at the Center for Conflict and Peace Studies, as saying.(ANI)

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K. H. Muniyappa to attend flagging off ceremony of Standard Gauge Metro Car

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bangalore, Sep. 9 (ANI): The Minister of State for Railways, K. H. Muniyappa, will attend a programme here on Friday where country’s first Standard Gauge Metro Car will be flagged off.

Standard Gauge Metro Car is being manufactured by Bharat Earth Movers Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Defence.

The Minister of State of Defence, Dr. Pallam Raju will also be present on the occasion.

Later, both the Ministers will travel to Kolar where they will hold meetings with various employees Unions/Associations of BEML at KGF Complex.

The meeting will provide an opportunity for employees of BEML to put forth their grievances and pending issues before the Ministers. (ANI)

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Rajasthan Govt directs public servants to pay proper respect to MPs, MLAs

September 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Jaipur, Sep. 2 (ANI): In a bizarre move, the Rajasthan government has directed all the government employees to properly welcome and see off visiting MPs and MLAs.

Among other things, the directive requires government employees to stand up when a lawmaker comes to visit them.

“Respecting them is essential and usually they come to address the grievances of the common man and not with their own personnel issues. In our culture we usually stand up when someone visits us and welcoming someone by just sitting on our chairs is not a part of our culture,” said Ashok Bairwa, spokesman, Rajasthan government.

On their part, the government employees have reacted with mixed notions.

They have contended that there was no need for such an order as they were already respecting public leaders, in and out of office.

“There might be an instance because of which the government had to issue this order. We are not aware of any such instance. I personally feel that employees and officers of the district administration have never shown dissent or disrespect to them nor such a feeling like this has ever come into their minds,” said Gowri Shankar Soni, a government employee.

Many Congress party MPs and MLAs have often complained about indifference of bureaucrats and other staff members towards them. (ANI)

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PML-Q supports Jamil Bugti’s decision to register case against Musharraf

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Quetta, Aug. 31 (ANI): PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Husain has said that his party supports Jamil Bugti’s decision to register a case against former president Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz for conspiring his father Akbar Bugti’s assassination.

The Daily Times quoted Husain as saying that a fair trial would be conducted against the killers of the Baloch nationalist leader. He added that the PML-Q would not apologise to the Baloch people for the actions his party took while in power.

“The PML-Q made all efforts to negotiate with Akbar Bugti to resolve outstanding issues.

“We had won the confidence of Akbar Bugti to such an extent that he even agreed to nominate Mushahid Hussain as his representative in further dialogue,” Husain said.

The PML-Q chief also urged Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to visit Balochistan to see the plight of Baloch people, and address their grievances.

“The government and all stakeholders will have to work collectively to resolve Balochistan’s issues,” he said. (ANI)

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Khanduri, Singhal hold discussions with Bhagwat

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 29 (ANI): After criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership for removing him from the post of Uttarakhand chief minister, B. C. Khanduri on Saturday met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat.

According to sources Khanduri is understood to have aired his grievances before Bhagwat.

Khanduri, who has been brooding since he was forced to resign after the party’s poor show in the state in the 2009 polls, still claims to enjoy the support of most of BJP MLAs.

After the Shimla Chintan Baithak, Khanduri reportedly wrote a letter to party president Rajnath Singh in which he is understood to have criticised his removal.

Apart from Khanduri, the International Chairman of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Ashok Singhal also met Bhagwat at Keshav Kunj, the RSS headquarters in Delhi.

VHP sources described the Singhal -Bhagwat meeting as “routine.”(ANI)

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DDCA-Sehwag row resolved, Jaitley assures fair selection of Delhi Ranji team

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 25(ANI): Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Arun Jaitley on Tuesday ensured a fair selection process of the Delhi Ranji team and also look at the suggestions made by players regarding a better functioning of the body.

Jaitley said this while addressing a press conference after a meeting with Virender Sehwag, who had threatened to quit the Delhi Ranji team in protest against alleged nepotism and corruption in the DDCA’s selection committee.

“I have told Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir that I accept their view,” Jaitley said.

“We were not adverse to the suggestions made the players, some of them are very good. Our principal concern was to make sure the selection process should be fair. There were some suggestions made in regard to having a cricketing advisory board with former players, which we have accepted,” Jaitley added.

The DDCA has also accepted to host pre-season events as proposed by players.

“I didn’t see it as a crisis because there was no conflict of ideas and interests. Their ideas are acceptable because they are for the good administration of the game,” Jaitley said.

Earlier, Sehwag had triggered of a virtual players’ revolt against DDCA administrators and had received support from senior Delhi teammates, including Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra.

The aggrieved players had also threatened to play for some other state in the upcoming domestic season if their grievances were not addressed. (ANI)

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