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Political Notes

	October 01, 2007

CPI(M) affiliated trade union slips to fifth place



CPI(M) affiliated trade union, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the third largest trade union in the country in 1989, has now slipped to the fifth place. Its place in the third position has been taken by the CPI’s trade union, All India Trade Union Congress, as per the findings of a verification exercise undertaken by the Central Labour Commissioner.



The top two spots continue with BJP affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Indian National Trade Union Congress of the Congress.



Observers say that with a much lesser proportion of the work force on its rolls, CITU’s bargaining power with the Government as well as in tripartite negotiations would go down proportion¬ately.





Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary arrested



The CBI has arrested former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Akhand Pratap Singh for possessing disproportionate assets valued at about Rs. 200 crore. He was caught while he was trying to escape from his Vasant Kunj farmhouse in New Delhi on Sept. 25.



Reports say that custodial interrogation of the former UP Chief Secretary might spell discomfort for the Samajwadi Party as the CBI is examining links between his ‘benami’ properties and those mentioned in a PIL, claiming to list allegedly ille¬gal real estate owned by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family.



A.P. Singh, who was sent to 12 days CBI custody on Wednes¬day, a day after his arrest, is alleged to have been close to former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and CBI has noticed an ‘overlap’ in some of the properties claimed to have been owned by the two.



CBI sources said that it was, in fact, the agency’s attempt to resolve the mystery behind the ‘benami’ properties, alleged¬ly attributed to Mulayam and his family members by a petitioner, Vishwanth Chaturvedi, in the Supreme Court, that brought the sleuths to Singh’s door.



Apart from investigating whether political links also had an additional dimension as far as ‘benami’ properties are con¬cerned, CBI sources said the agency was also taking a close look at A.P. Singh’s mobile phone record.





President hosts iftar



President Pratibha Patil on Sept. 28 hosted an ‘iftar’ at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is the first time in five years that an ‘iftar’ party was held in the Rashtrapati Bhavan as Patil’s predecessor A P J Abdul Kalam did not host one during his tenure.



Vice-President Hamid Ansari and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among a host of dignitaries present at the ‘iftar’ today, which could not be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he is recuperating from a recent surgery.



Several Union Ministers, including Sushil Kumar Shinde, Shivraj Patil, P R Kyndiah, Saifuddin Soz, Suresh Pachauri, D Purandeshwari and Prithviraj Chavan, besides Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, several MPs and diplomats were present.



Leaders of all major religions also attended the ‘iftar’ where special arrangements were made to offer prayers. Pratibha Patil and Sonia Gandhi went around meeting people at the Ashoka Hall.





Three killed in Naxal attacks in Bihar



Maoists killed three persons in Gaya district of Bihar and blew up a railway station in Jharkhand on Sept. 23 during a 24-hour bandh called by them to protest against the arrest of a senior Naxal leader. The Maoists burnt 13 trucks in Gaya dis¬trict and killed three persons including a jawan of the Special Auxiliary Force created to deal with Naxalites. Several trains skipped Gaya and were being diverted to Patna. Train services in Jharkhand came to a halt after three blasts rocked Dhanbad and Mughalsarai divisions.



In Andhra Pradesh, four Naxalites including three women, were killed in an encounter with a police party in the Vishakha agency area on Sept. 26.