Not taking Rly for a ride

Scoffing at the Opposition’s charge that he was wasting crores on self-promotional advertisement, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav s...

Scoffing at the Opposition’s charge that he was wasting crores on self-promotional advertisement, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav said they were a message for the country’s trading community, not for the voters in Bihar. Laloo promised to bring down passenger fares if the revenues increased further. “The Re 1 reduction in fares was a signal to people. As the revenue of Railways increase, we will bring down passenger fares further,’’ Laloo said.

Contempt of Speaker

Lok Sabha Secretary-General P.D.T. Achary on Wednesday said a member who protested against a ruling was guilty of contempt of the House and the Speaker. “The Speaker’s decision is equally binding whether given in the House or on a departmental file. He is not bound to give reasons for his decisions,’’ he said. “If a member desires to make a submission to the Speaker on the floor of the House regarding a ruling, the Speaker may permit the member to do so after satisfying himself that it does not not unduly interfere with proceedings of the House,’’ he said.

Monitor for hospitals

Concerned over the high cost of medical facilities and poor quality of treatment offered by private hospitals to people below the poverty line, the government is considering a law to regulate quality of treatment in hospitals. This was announced by Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss in Parliament. As per the proposed Clinical Establishment Law, all hospitals would have to be registered with district authorities and would be governed by the guidelines, the Health Minister said. “Since 80 per cent of the institutions are in the private sector, and the rest in the public sector, we may think of a public-private partnership,’’ he said.

Mum’s the word on ISI

Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Wednesday refused to link the Indian terrorist organisations to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. Patil was replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on terrorist groups active in Delhi and if the government had found their links with ISI. When BJP leader Yashwant Sinha asked him pointedly why he was shying away from naming the ISI, Patil said: “We all know the ground realities. Why do you want me to say something which will not help the situation.’’

— ENS & PTI

‘Double bonanza for poor, middle class’: PM’s swadeshi pitch ahead of new GST roll out

India7 hr ago

PM Modi announced the rollout of new GST rates, calling it a "GST bachat utsav" and promising cheaper prices for medicines, insurance, and daily essentials. He emphasized that these reforms would ease doing business, attract investment, and benefit the poor, middle class, MSMEs, farmers, women, traders, and youth. He urged citizens to promote swadeshi goods.

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