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Top Stories
Right to Information Bill
gets Cabinet okay
What is India News Service,
Thursday, 5 May 2005, 1400 hrs IST
The Union Cabinet tonight approved
11 Bills including the much awaited Right to Information Bill, the Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) Bill and a law on disaster management for coordinated
response during a crisis situation.
The Cabinet also approved amendments to three major Bills \97 the RBI Act,
1934, Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Credit Information Companies
(Regulation) Bill ---to hasten the pace of banking reforms.
The Cabinet also approved the abolition of cess on export of agricultural
products to make them more competitive. It also approved a Bill to prevent
weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and their delivery systems from falling into
the hands of non-state actors.
The Right to Information Bill once enacted will provide for setting out the
practical regime of right to information for people to secure access to
information under the control of public authorities, \93in order to promote
transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority\94. It
will also provide for setting up a Central Information Commission and also state
information commissions in states and union territories.
\93We will endeavour to get this Bill passed in the current session
itself\94, Mr Reddy said. The Right to Information Bill was introduced in
Parliament in December 2004 and later sent to the Parliamentary Standing
Committee and a Group of Ministers, which had made certain recommendations.
The new act will replace the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. The National
Advisory Council deliberated on the issue and suggested certain important
changes to be incorporated in the existing Act to ensure smoother and greater
access to information. The Government examined the suggestions made by the
National Advisory Council and others and decided to make a number of changes in
the law.
NDA
will not relent on boycott issue: The
National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday decided to keep away from Parliament
and all parliamentary committees till the end of the budget session on May 13,
saying the Government's attitude towards the Opposition was
"obnoxious".
Launch
pad dedicated: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Wednesday dedicated to the
nation the state-of-the-art second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
The PSLV-C6 will be launched from here on Thursday.
India
not to resume arms supplies to Nepal, says envoy:
There is no question of India resuming military supplies to Nepal till New
Delhi\92s demands listed in its February 1 statement are met, though India will
continue to stay engaged with the Himalayan kingdom.
France
ready to give Mirage \93marketing rights\94 to India: France is ready to
grant India \93marketing rights\94 for the Mirage-2000-5 fighter aircraft, which
have been put on offer to the Indian Air Force besides the transfer of
technology being offered for the production of aircraft here.
Mukesh
Ambani meets Manmohan: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director
Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and one of his top
lieutenants held discussions with Finance Ministry officials, a day after Mr.
Anil Ambani made serious allegations against him.
Zee
moves Court: Zee Telefilms on Wednesday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court
challenging a Madras High Court order. The order upheld the Cricket Board's
decision to cancel the tender process for awarding telecast rights for
international matches.
States
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No
proof of attack on Lalu's car: The Forensic Science Laboratory
(FSL) here has found no evidence of stone-throwing on the car of Railway
minister Lalu Prasad Yadav during his visit to the SSG Hospital, Vadodara, on
April 21, the day the Sabarmati Express rammed into a stationary goods train at
Samlaya railway station.
Life term for raping nurse:
A Delhi court today sentenced to life a city hospital ward boy for brutal rape of a nurse after she strongly rebuked him for his \94indecent\94 proposal to marry her as a remorse for his crime as she pleaded to the court to give him severest punishment.
Dispute
over meningitis claim: Confusion prevails about the exact number of
casualty and patients suffering from meningococcemia meningitis. The Delhi
Government on Wednesday categorically denied that the disease was assuming a
critical dimension and advised against immunisation.
Neighbours
Top
Osama aide held in Pakistan: Pakistani security forces, with help
from the US intelligence, arrested al-Qaeda's third most senior leader after
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri, Western intelligence sources said on
Wednesday. Pakistan said Abu Faraj Farj al Libby, a Libyan, was the mastermind
behind at least two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf in
December 2003.
View from abroad
Canada not to
appeal in Kanishka case:
In a
disappointment to relatives of the victims of the 1985 Air-India bombing that
killed 329 persons, Canadian prosecutors have decided not to appeal against the
acquittal of two main accused in the case.
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