Abdul Kalam meets PM Vajpayee
New Delhi
June 17 2002
NDA nominee for the Presidential poll A P J Abdul Kalam had a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today soon after he arrived here from Chennai.
Official sources said it was just a courtesy meeting.
Abdul Kalam, who is expected to file his nomination papers tomorrow, was received at the airport by Defence Minister and NDA convener George Fernandes and senior BJP leaders.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, who flew to Chennai yesterday, accompanied the Presidential candidate to the capital.
Kalam is expected to meet Fernandes and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav later in the day.
welcome for Abdul Kalam at Delhi
New Delhi
June 17 2002
NDA nominee for the Presidential election A P J Abdul Kalam arrived here today from Chennai to a rousing welcome.
He was received at the Indira Gandhi international airport by Defence Minister George Fernandes, Minister of State for PMO Vijay Goel and others.
Kalam was accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan from Chennai.
Kalam is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee later in the day.
He is expected to file his nomination papers tomorrow.
Jayalalitha and Naidu to nominate Kalam
New Delhi
June 17 2002
Telugu Desam Party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her Uttar Pradesh counterpart Mayawati are among the top dignitaries expected to nominate noted nuclear scientist A P J Abdul Kalam for the post of President here on Tuesday, highly placed sources said here yesterday.
Other senior political leaders expected to sign the nomination papers to be submitted on Tuesday include Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and senior BJP leader and Vice-President hopeful Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the sources told reporters.
“Kalam’s nomination would be a show of strength. It would be a show of NDA’s consensual approach vis-à-vis the Left Front’s adamant attitude,” said a senior leader.
The sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi would also be requested to personally endorse Kalam’s nomination.
The nomination procedure requires among other things nomination and seconding by 50 legislators each.
Approach Madras HighCourt.. SC tells "nakkeeran"Gopal
New Delhi
June 17 2002
The Supreme Court today directed R R Gopal, editor of the Tamil bi-weekly ‘Nakkeeran’, to approach the Madras High Court while refusing to entertain his petition seeking quashing of summons issued to him by the Special Investigation Cell for interrogation in connection with the kidnapping case of Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar by forest brigand Veerappan.
A vacation bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Ashok Bhan said the petitioner should approach the High Court for the relief claimed for and then dispose of the petition.
The petitioner had also sought a direction from the apex court to restrain the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka from proceeding against him in the case on the ground that he had participated in the negotiation process for the release of Rajkumar only on the requests made by the govts.
Sivasubramaniam, one of the reporters of the magazine, was arrested in November last year in connection with the case and has since been in custody, Gopal said adding that he apprehended he might be arrested once he appeared for interrogation.
The Special Investigation Cell had given him 15 days’ time on May 28 to appear before it for interrogation at Thalavadi police station.
Karaikal student tops national test
karaikal
june 15 2002
C Palani, a student of the Govt Industrial Training Institute at T R Pattinam in the Karaikal region of Pondicherry, has topped the vocational ability test conducted at the national-level recently.
Palani would receive a special cash price of Rs 10,000 and a certificate from the President for his achievement, principal of the ITI, Elangovan, told reporters today.
Pondy Bank manager’s bail plea rejected
Pondicherry
June 12 2002
Pondicherry chief judge Akbar Ali today rejected an anticipatory bail petition by the manager of the Pondicherry Co-op Bank, who was allegedly involved in a Rs 3.10 lakh cheating case here.
Following this, the manager, Sivaprakasam, is likely to be arrested.
It was reported that Padmajyothi, hailing from Chennai, had cheated Balasubramanian of Villianur, near here, to the tune of Rs 3.10 lakh promising him a petrol bunk licence.
Balasubramanian had reportedly handed over the sum in the presence of Tamil film actor Rajkiran and Sivaprakasam.
Following Padmajyothi’s arrest by the Namakkal police in another cheating case, Balasubramanian preferred a complaint with the police in this regard.