NEWS

• Telangana Bill unlikely to be placed in Parliament today as Rajya Sabha seeks clarification whether it is a money bill.

• Arunachal student Nido Tania died due to injuries on head and face, says autopsy report.

• Congress, NCP reach seat sharing deal in Maharastra; Congress gets 26 seats, while NCP to contest on 22.

• Supreme court asks CBI to file chargesheet in six cases relating to coal block allocation scam.

• US challenges the domestic content requirement of India's Solar mission.

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The Telangana Bill will not come up in the Rajya Sabha today with the House secretariat seeking clarifications from the Law Ministry whether it is a money bill or not.  The Telangana Bill will have to be introduced in the Lok Sabha first if the Law Ministry opines that it is a money bill.

Government sources said the bill could be introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday if the Law Ministry is of the opinion that legislation is not a money bill .

The Bill, that seeks to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, was expected to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha today after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his nod.  

Home Ministry officials said the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, which was approved by the Union Cabinet but rejected by the state Assembly, has been sent back to the Home Ministry with the Presidential approval.

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 The autopsy report of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania has revealed that he succumbed due to injuries on his head and face caused by a blunt object. He was allegedly beaten to death in South Delhi. Delhi Police sources said that  19-year-old Tania died due to blunt trauma on head and face. In view of the report, the three people who were arrested in the case earlier and charged with assault may now face murder charges.

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Two juveniles were apprehended last evening in connection with the attack on two Manipur youths in the Ambedkar Nagar area of Delhi. The boys were attacked by a group of unidentified bike-borne assailants.

The Police will conduct a test identification parade, TIP in this regard today. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said that a case has been registered in the matter.

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A group of MPs from the Northeast met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded an anti- racial discrimination law and judicial inquiry into the death of Aruachal Pradesh youth Nido Tania. They also demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

In their memorandum, they submitted a five-point chart of demands to the Prime Minister including setting up of a judicial commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to study and prepare a report on all forms of racial discrimination with students of the Northeast.

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Congress will contest on 26 seats and the NCP on 22 in Maharashtra in the next Lok Sabha elections. A decision in this regard was taken at a seat sharing meeting between Congress and NCP leaders in New Delhi yesterday. Senior NCP leader Praful Patel told reporters that his party will extend complete support to the Congress in the elections.

Our correspondent reports that Maharashtra which has 48 parliamentary constituencies, is the second largest state in terms of Lok Sabha members after Uttar Pradesh  which has 80 seats.

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The Delhi Government has directed the Anti- Corruption Branch to register FIRs in three cases of Delhi Jal Board which have allegedly resulted in loss of 341 crore rupees to the state exchequer. An official release said that the cases related to the wrong allotment of various works at the Bhagirathi water treatment plant to a private company at a highly inflated cost resulting in a loss of 158 crore rupees and alleged irregularities in purchase of water meters.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has refused to reconsider his decision about convening a special Assembly session at the Indira Gandhi stadium. In reply to a letter to Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung, Mr Kejriwal said that paramilitary forces should be deployed at the venue if Delhi Police feels incompetent to provide security.

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Supporting its decision not to send the Jan Lokpal Bill to the Centre, the Delhi government has said as many as 13 finance bills were not referred to the Central Government prior to introduction in the legislative assembly between 1996 and 2013. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government would not bow down to the Home Ministry's unconstitutional order which requires Delhi government to obtain prior approval from the Centre before tabling any bill in the assembly.

I have informed this to Lt. Governor that the order by the Home Ministry is wrong. However, Lt. Governor told me that he will seek the advice from Central Law Ministry, and he will take decision according to it.

Kejriwal, who is keen on pushing the Jan Lokpal Bill through the assembly without going to the Centre first, yesterday met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. The Governor sought opinion of the Law Ministry on the constitutional position on whether it was necessary for the Delhi government to obtain prior approval from the Centre before tabling the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly.

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The Congress has said that India is not a lawless republic where anyone can take the law into his or her hands. Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in New Delhi yesterday that under the rules, prior approval through the Lieutenant Governor is required for tabling the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly. 

There is a rule. The rule was created before either AAP was born or the Janlokpal Bill was being thrashed around more than 8-10 years ago. Under that rule a prior approval and a rooting through Lt. Governor is required. That is the matter of principle and we stand by that principle. And that rule is not being struck down by anybody as unconstitutional or illegal. Even those who criticized it say that it is a standing rule.

The BJP senior leader Dr. Harshvardhan also said that there is a constitutional way to form a law.

We are 100 times more committed than Arvind Kejriwal to remove corruption from it's roots. And we are in favour of any stringent law but in any country to form law there are constitutional limits and process.

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The Supreme Court has asked the CBI to file charge sheets in six cases related to coal block allocation scam. The court also passed an important direction giving liberty to the CBI to proceed in its probe against  state-owned PSUs without the approval and consent of state government.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R M Lodha also recorded CBI's statement that it would complete the probe on all preliminary inquiries and regular cases registered by April end.

The agency informed the court that it will file the chargesheet within three weeks. The CBI also placed before the court its latest status report in a sealed envelope about the progress of investigation till December the 31st, 2013.

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A dispute over invoking the anti-piracy law against two Italians marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen, will be adjudicated by the Supreme Court.  A bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan asked Attorney General G E Vahahvati to take instruction from the Centre on the Italian government's plea challenging invocation of the anti-piracy law against its two marines.  Italy had warned that it would react to India's move.

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 The Allahabad High Court yesterday rejected the bail plea of former Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and another accused in the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission, NRHM scam.  They are facing trial before a CBI court for alleged irregularities in the implementation of the scheme during the Mayawati government in the state.

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The United States challenged the domestic content requirement of India's solar mission which it alleged is discriminatory and against international norms.

The US Trade Representative, Mike Froman told reporters at a news conference in Washington that the US was forced to take such a measure so as to protect  10,000 American jobs in solar industry and to have a significant piece of a pie in the second largest solar market of the world.

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US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell plans to meet BJP leader Narendra Modi, signalling a shift in America's stand. A State Department spokesperson told media persons that the request to meet Modi has been made by Powell herself, but did not confirm the possible date of the meeting, which is expected to take place in Ahmedabad this month.

In 2005, the US State Department had revoked a visa that Modi had for travelling to the US in the wake of the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

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NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

• The findings of a Supreme Court Panel on the 'IPL spot fixing scandal' - is covered extensively by the Press. According to the Statesman, the panel said Gurunath Meiyappan Was involved in betting. It even flayed the Mumbai Police for not being 'willing' to investigate the involvement of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in the scandal.

• The 'Delhi Nagar Swaraj Bill 2014' is also discussed. Asian Age reports - 'Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's proposed 'mohalla sabhas', part of the Bill coming up before the Delhi Court today, are on the lines of the Marxists' dreaded local committees in West Bengal that   had virtually turned into Kangaroo courts.

• "LG sends Jan Lokpal BIll to Law Ministry", headlines the Pioneer. Lt Governor Najeeb Jung has referred the 'Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill 2014' to the Union Law Ministry to get an opinion on its Constitutional Position - on whether it is necessary for the Delhi Government to obtain prior approval from the Centre - before its introduction in the Delhi Assembly.

• Bountiful: India set for record harvest. Hindustan Times informs us that India is set to post its highest ever food output - with a likely production of over 263 million tons of food grain this year, according to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

• Decks have been cleared for an SIT probe into the 1984 anti-sikh riots, with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung giving consent to AAP's request, writes Mail Today.

• Days of illegible & scrawly preion & dosages by doctors may soon be a thing of the past, says The Indian Express. The Medical Council of India has decided that once the order becomes law, doctors should only write preions in CAPITAL letters.

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