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Archives for February 2015

Cricket World Cup 2015: West Indies beat Zimbabwe

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chris_gayle

by Justin Goulding, BBC Sport

Chris Gayle hit the first double century in World Cup history as West Indies beat Zimbabwe by 73 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The left-hander smashed 215 off 147 balls, including 16 sixes and 10 fours, in West Indies’ 372-2 in Canberra.

He added an ODI record 372 for the second wicket with Marlon Samuels, who made a relatively sedate 133 not out.

Chasing a rain-revised target of 363 off 48 overs, Zimbabwe fell short as Gayle took two wickets and a catch.

Having lost their opening game to Ireland, West Indies’ win took them level on points with India at the top of Pool B, before their meeting with South Africa on Friday.

Although Zimbabwe’s bowlers suffered heavily at the hands of Gayle, their batsmen deserve credit for a respectable run chase that featured Sean Williams’s 76 and 52 for Craig Ervine.

Jerome Taylor claimed 3-38 and West Indies captain Jason Holder 3-48, but their figures were footnotes in a game that will be remembered for Gayle’s savage hitting.

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels added 372 during a partnership spanning all but two balls of the innings

Tinashe Panyangara conceded 22 off his final over as he recoded figures of 9-0-82-1

Sean Williams has now made eight scores over 70 without reaching 80

Arvind Kejriwal, political leaders join Anna Hazare's protest on second day

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Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and MDMK chief Vaiko share stage with Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar. (ANI Twitter photo)

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and MDMK chief Vaiko share stage with Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar. (ANI Twitter photo)

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today joined Anna Hazare on his second day of protest against the contentious land ordinance and shared the dais with the social activist.

Kejriwal was among a host of leaders cutting across party lines who joined the agitation on a day the government introduced the contentious land acquisition bill in Lok Sabha amid a walk out by the opposition.

Though Hazare had earlier ruled out sharing stage with any politician, political leaders including CPI’s Atul Anjan and Vaiko of MDMK were among those sitting on the dais.

Before beginning his protest today, Hazare said people from political parties were welcome to join the agitators but will not share the stage with him and made it clear that he would not allow any political colour to the agitation.

He accused the NDA government of not heeding to farmers’ interests.

Yesterday, Hazare had said a jail-bharo movement will be launched from the Ramlila Ground after carrying out “padyatra” across the country for three-four months.

Accusing the government of only caring for corporates, Hazare said he will not relent till government withdraws the controversial ordinance.

“The political parties are of the country only. And, people running the government are also from the country. The people who suffer injustice are also from this country. And, so if farmers are meted out injustice and if everyone comes together to fight injustice, then what is the problem,” Hazare told reporters.

(PTI)

Karnataka: Congress under pressure to replace CM Siddaramaiah with a Dalit face

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Siddaramaiah-Parameshwara

Bengaluru: Though summer is yet to set in, political heat is affecting the Congress party in Karnataka.

Dalits from across the state have come together to lobby for a CM from their community, and are backing Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara for the post.

Last week, representatives of at least 30 different Dalit organisations of the state met in Bengaluru to demand CM’s post for Parameshwara.

If reports are to be believed, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara’s name has been floated by his supporters as the likely successor to Siddaramaiah.

Reports also suggested that Siddaramaiah is well aware of the forces backing Parameshwara and he is also in no mood to offer any powerful slot to the latter.

After Parameshwara’s shocking defeat in 2013 Assembly polls, he was forced to concede CM’s post to Siddaramaiah.

The Dalit groups have also planned a massive rally in Bengaluru on April 14 to press for their demand. The day coincides with Dr BR Ambedkar Jayanthi.

According to some media reports, Parameshwara is expected to lead a delegation to New Delhi shortly to meet the party high command.

(Agencies)

Climate crusading former Maldives leader arrested, dragged into court

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‘The conduct of the courts, police and President Yameen’s administration has been reprehensible,’ says Mohamed Nasheed’s lawyer

Maldives police on Monday night denied allegations of brutality against former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, seen here being dragged into court on Monday. (Photo: Haveeru/Mohamed Sharuaan)

Maldives police on Monday night denied allegations of brutality against former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, seen here being dragged into court on Monday. (Photo: Haveeru/Mohamed Sharuaan)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, the renowned climate and human rights crusader who was ousted in a military coup in 2012, was arrested Sunday on charges of terrorism and then forcibly dragged by police into criminal court on Monday.

Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the island nation, was charged under tough anti-terrorism laws that carry a penalty of more than 10 years in jail. According to news sources, the case relates to Nasheed’s 2012 decision to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, chief judge of the Criminal Court.

The New York Times reports that Nasheed, now leader of the country’s main opposition party, “is accused of using the military to arrest the senior judge when it had no authority to do so…He also is accused of detaining Mr. Mohamed for weeks without trial or legal counsel and ignoring a Supreme Court order to release him.”

But according to Agence France-Presse, the Maldivian Democratic Party “has argued that his arrest on ‘trumped-up charges of terrorism’ is an attempt to shut down growing opposition to the government of President Abdulla Yameen before a planned protest rally on Friday.”

Nasheed’s top legal adviser, Hissan Hussein, told AFP the charges against Nasheed were “blatantly politically motivated” and condemned authorities for refusing him legal access. “This arrest and detention is completely arbitrary,” Hussein said. “The conduct of the courts, police and President Yameen’s administration has been reprehensible.”

After Nasheed, 47, was detained on Sunday, hundreds of party activists took to the streets shouting anti-government slogans.

Their cries grew louder on Monday, following a scuffle between Nasheed and police officers outside court in the capital of Malé. Video shows Nasheed stopping to talk to journalists and police dragging him away. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs described the police conduct as “manhandling.”

According to journalists on the scene, Nasheed’s shirt buttons were missing and he appeared in pain following the altercation. The BBC reported that Nasheed, who was denied bail, “was later seen with his arm in a sling.”

The Maldivian daily newspaper Haveeru caught the scene on film:

Outraged by the incident and arrest, thousands protested in Malé on Monday, calling for Nasheed’s release and Yameen’s resignation.

Nasheed’s supporters also took their message to Twitter:


“As president, Nasheed had become one of the world’s most outspoken figures in the struggle against climate change, given the impending impact of rising sea levels on his country’s survival,” Stephen Zunes wrote in 2012. “A journalist by training, Nasheed was repeatedly jailed and tortured for his writings exposing government corruption and other abuses under the Gayoom regime.  He eventually found himself leading a campaign of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience which eventually brought an end to a thirty-year dictatorship which had facilitated corruption, drug trafficking and human rights abuses.”

Zunes continued: “[R]egardless of the circumstances surrounding Nasheed’s resignation, it seems clearer every day that the regime that replaced his government has little regard for human rights or the democratic process. Indeed, the real test of a government’s legitimacy is its tolerance of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”

'Citizenfour' triumphs: Snowden documentary nabs Oscar

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‘Thank you to Edward Snowden for his courage and for the many other whistleblowers,’ says director Laura Poitras

Laura Poitras (second from left) speaks after accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for "Citizenfour" at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015. The others, from left to right, producer Dirk Wilutzky, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden's girlfriend Lindsay Mills, and producer Mathilde Bonnefoy. (Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake)

Laura Poitras (second from left) speaks after accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for “Citizenfour” at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015. The others, from left to right, producer Dirk Wilutzky, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Snowden’s girlfriend Lindsay Mills, and producer Mathilde Bonnefoy. (Photo: Reuters/Mike Blake)

by Jon Queally, Common Dreams

Citizenfour, the film chronicling the decision made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to expose wrongdoing to the world by leaking details of the agency’s top-secret global surveillance operation to journalists, was awarded the Best Documentary Film award at Sunday night’s Academy Award.

The award was accepted by the film’s director Laura Poitras alongside its producers, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky. Joining them on stage was journalist Glenn Greenwald and Snowden’s girlfriend Lindsay Mills, both of whom are featured in the film.

“Thank you to Edward Snowden for his courage and for the many other whistleblowers,” Poitras said as she accepted the award.

“The disclosures that Edward Snowden revealed don’t only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself,” she added. “When the most important decisions being made affecting all of us are made in secret, we lose our ability to check the powers that control.”

Snowden himself, of course, was not at the ceremony as he remains in Russia where he has lived since 2013 under protective asylum. However, through his attorneys at the ACLU, Snowden did release an official statement in reaction to the Oscar win.

“When Laura Poitras asked me if she could film our encounters, I was extremely reluctant,” Snowden stated. “I’m grateful that I allowed her to persuade me. The result is a brave and brilliant film that deserves the honor and recognition it has received. My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world.”

In a congratulatory post on the blog of the digital freedom advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, Rainey Reitman, the group’s director of activism, said the award “recognizes not only the incredible cinematography of Poitras, but also her daring work with a high-stakes whistleblower and the journalism that kick-started a worldwide debate about surveillance and government transparency.”

Describing why the Oscar victory has import beyond the prestige of the trophy, Reitman continued:

This award means that more people will be no doubt be watching CITIZENFOUR, and thus learning about both Snowden’s sacrifice and the surveillance abuses by the United States government. For those watching the movie for the first time, there’s often a sense of urgency to get involved and fight back against mass untargeted surveillance. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

  1. Tell President Obama to amend Executive Order 12333, which is the primary legal authority the NSA uses to engage in surveillance of people worldwide.
  2. Start using encryption when communicating digitally.
  3. Speak out against reauthorization of a much-abused section of the Patriot Act which is set to expire this summer.

Israeli claims about Iran nuclear program denied by own spy agency

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Leaked internal assessment, obtained by Al Jazeera and the Guardian, contradicts Netanyahu’s claim in 2012 that Iran was within a year of possessing an atom bomb

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters at his office in Jerusalem. (Photo: Reuters)

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters at his office in Jerusalem. (Photo: Reuters)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim three years ago that Iran was within close reach of possessing a nuclear bomb was denied by his government’s own spy agency, Mossad, a top secret document obtained by Al Jazeera and the Guardian reveals.

In a September 2012 address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu claimed that Iran was 90 down the road to developing an atomic weapon and would do so within the year. “By next spring, at most by next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage,” he stated.

However, the leaked internal documents paint a much different picture.

On October 22, 2012—less than a month after Netanyahu’s speech—Mossad sent a classified assessment to South Africa, stating that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons” and “doesn’t appear to be ready to enrich uranium to the higher levels needed for a nuclear bomb.”

“That view tracks with the 2012 U.S. National Intelligence estimate,” Al Jazeera notes, “which found no evidence that Iran had thus far taken a decision to use its nuclear infrastructure to build a weapon, or that it had revived efforts to research warhead design that the US said had been shelved in 2003.”

Israel, on the other hand, is the only nuclear weapon state in the Middle East, illegally in possession of at least 80 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The prime minister has used claims that Iran is close to producing a nuclear bomb to justify military escalation and argue against ongoing diplomatic talks between Iran and the p5+1 countries: the U.S., Russia, China, United Kingdom, France,  Germany.

At the invitation of the Republican Party, Netanyahu will make a controversial address to Congress on March 3rd, in what is expected to be another attempt to sabotage talks. The planned speech has garnered widespread opposition, from within Washington as well as grassroots movements, and a push for lawmakers to boycott the address has already gained considerable traction.

Jamal Abdi of the National Iranian American Council told Common Dreams that the latest revelations make Netanyahu’s motives transparent. “It is very clear that he is opposed to any deal,” said Abdi. “The adage has been that no deal is better than a bad deal, but it is clear that for Netanyahu, no deal is better than a good deal if he can’t even agree with the assessments of his own security establishment.”

"After romancing with the small screen, I have just started my affair with the big screen": Actor Nimai Bali

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Nimai Bali

by Shaheen Raaj

Nimai Bali, the veteran small screen actor, a man of a very humble, down to earth & pleasing persona has already scored one and a half century of his romance with the small screen (Read serials). In fact he is popularly known as not only the Big B of the small screen arena but also considered as the Blue Eyed Boy of all the Satellite Channels put together namely Star Plus, Zee Tv, Sony Tv, Colors et al. In fact since the last one and a half decade not a single day has elapsed when he has not donned the grease paint or faced the arc lights so what if it was only for the small screen and not the big screen. Besides Nimai Bali is also vary of boasting about his relational lineage. The departed actor Sunil Dutt happens to be his uncle, Sanjay Dutt his immediate cousin and last but not the least the ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun?’ fame actress Sahila Chadha happens to be his better half who has also given him a lovely and a most precious gift of Princess, his one & only daughter.

How about revealing some nuggets of your small screen endeavor to start off with?

To be very frank i was supposed to get a dream launch on the celluloid silver screen with a dream role in a dream film named ‘Messiah’ to be made by my uncle, the Late Sunil Dutt. But unfortunately this remained a distant dream for reasons best known to God – The Almighty.

And then?

And then fortunately for me began my small screen journey which is still going strong and uninterrupted since the last one and a half decade. In fact not a single day has elapsed when I have not donned the grease paint or faced the arc lights. So what if it was only for the small screen and not the celluloid silver screen.

Now how about elaborating on your small screen achievements in a nutshell?

Well! I had began my career on the small screen by playing the role of Surya in the famous TV series ‘Chandrakanta’. And then I went on to play a detective in the TV series ‘CID: Special Bureau’ & also ‘CID’. And then came the phase of me getting involved in mytho series. In fact I became well-known for portraying Pawan Dev (God of the Winds) & Monkey Emperor Bali in the 1997-2000 television serial ‘Jai Hanuman’, directed by Sanjay Khan.

Not only these I also played Duryodhana in Sanjay Khan’s miniseries ‘Maha Kavya Mahabharat’ in 2001. Besides these I have also acted in varied other mytho serials like ‘Om Namah Shivay’, ‘Jai Jai Bajrang Bali’ et al. And then began the phase of social serials like ‘Bhabhi’, ‘Kumkum’, ‘Doli Sajaa Ke Rakhna’, ‘Amber Dhara’, ‘Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki’, ‘Yug’, ‘Bani…….Ishq Da Kalma’ et al. The list is endless.

Are you content with your small screen journey so far?

Of course, you bet I am contented. I think I would be lying through my teeth if I said no. Tell me which other small screen actor has had such a long, chequered & illustrious career on the small screen. In fact I am popularly known as the Big B of the small screen arena, the Blue Eyed Boy of all the Satellite Channels put together namely Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony TV, Colors et al.

Any regrets?

Having lost out earlier on the Colors Channel’s ‘Balika Vadhu’ because I had got the offer when the Colors Channel was still in its infancy and I was then vary of working in new & unknown channels. But I have rectified my mistake by welcoming offers from one & all with open arms. In fact my currently ongoing serial is Colors Channel’s ‘Balika Vadhu’.

So when are you going to start your affair with the big screen?

I had ventured out earlier on big screen with ‘Refugee’ & ‘Dil Ka Doctor’. But I think I will be lucky with my hat trick outing in ‘Rahasya’. You see after romancing with the small screen (150 Serials Not Out) I have just started my affair with the big screen with ‘Rahasya’ as a freaky Maharashtrian cop. And believe me I am just loving it. It was recently released and my role in it was highly appreciated and even considered as award worthy by critics & fans alike.”

Make Jayalalithaa my CM, says fan as he crucifies himself

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Shihan Hussaini

Chennai: A karate expert and supporter of AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa ‘crucified’ himself on Monday as he demanded the leader’s return as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

Shihan Hussaini’s aides nailed him on a wooden cross, where he remained hanging for more than six minutes. A video shows Hussaini’s aides digging 6-inch nails into his hand and feet as dozens of AIADMK workers looked on.

Shihan was on cross for 6 minutes and 7seconds to commemorate Jayalalithaa’s upcoming 67th birthday.

“There is no Indian who has crucified himself for some cause. There is no one across the globe who has done this. I love Madam and whenever we went to her, she had always helped us. I just did this for her long life and for her to come back as the chief minister,” Hussaini told PTI.

“I am big admirer of her (Jayalalithaa). I was laughed at for this event. I was told it was an AIADMK stunt. No AIADMK Minister was here when I crucified myself today,” he said.

On why he undertook crucification, Hussain said he is an expert in karate, a martial art form where pain, tolerance and self-control are major components of training.

“I strongly feel prayers are heard and the Cross is a powerful symbol,” he said.

Hussaini who did his schooling in Christian institutions, said his family did not support him when he informed them about the event.

“My wife was apprehensive and my sister said she would even file a police complaint. But I know my body and went ahead with my proposal,” he said.

Doctors from Global Hospitals and Fortis Malar accompanied Hussaini during the event. “I was taken to the hospital and now I am alright. There is no major injury to nerves or bones,” he said.

Jayalalithaa resigned from the chief minister’s post after she was arrested and jailed in a disproportionate assets case.

(Agencies)

Conversion to Christianity was Mother Teresa's main objective, says RSS chief, gets slammed by Kejriwal

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Mohan_Bhagwat

New Delhi: Conversion to Christianity was the main objective behind Mother Teresa’s service to the poor, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat said Monday February 23rd.

“Mother Teresa’s service would have been good. But it used to have one objective, to convert the person, who was being served, into a Christian,” he said while speaking at a function organised by NGO Apna Ghar near here.

“The question is not about conversion but if this (conversion) is done in the name of service, then that service gets devalued,” he said.

“But here (at the NGO), the objective is purely service of poor and helpless people,” added Bhagwat.

The RSS Chief was addressing a function in village Bajhera, near 8 kms from here, where he inaugurated ‘Mahila Sadan’ and ‘Sishu Bal Grah’ in the NGO for helpless women and children.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his comments on Mother Teresa, saying she was a “noble soul” and should be spared.

“I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her,” Kejriwal tweeted.

(Agencies)

Ruckus in Parliament over land acquisition bill, Opposition up in arms

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A file picture of Parliament House in New Delhi. Photo: V.V. Krishnan.

A file picture of Parliament House in New Delhi. Photo: V.V. Krishnan.

New Delhi: Ruckus erupted in Parliament on the second day of budget session as Opposition parties upped the ante against the government over a contentious land bill.

The Narendra Modi government will introduce the land acquisition amendment bill 2015 to replace the ordinance in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Before that, finance minister Arun Jaitley invoked the first Nehru government and said it introduced 77 oridinances, amid an uproar triggered by the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

“Ordinances are bypassing Parliament is not a valid argument,” he said.

The Opposition has remained firm that the ordinance, along with five more, would not be allowed to go through Parliament. These ordinances would expire on March 20, if not passed during this budget session.

President Pranab Mukherjee had set the tone for the government to push for the tweaked land law on Monday amid resistance from the Opposition and rights groups, prompting the BJP to discuss ways to get the controversial legislation passed in Parliament.

The law has been suitably refined to protect farmers’ interests during land acquisition for crucial public projects, Mukherjee told a joint sitting of Parliament that launched the budget session.

“My government attaches paramount importance to safeguard the interest of farmers and families affected by land acquisition,” the President said, trying to allay fears the land act would benefit only industries without a consent clause from landowners which the Modi government had enacted through an ordinance.

The ruling coalition would introduce the bill to replace the land ordinance in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, where it enjoys a brute majority but the problem lie in Rajya Sabha.

Rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh will introduce the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

It will replace the ordinance promulgated by the government in December last year, which had brought changes in the earlier bill passed in 2013 by the UPA government.

The government had promulgated the ordinance making significant changes in the land act including removal of consent clause for acquiring land for five areas — industrial corridors, PPP projects, rural infrastructure, affordable housing and defence.

The Congress has already given a notice for suspension of question hour in the Upper House to discuss the ordinance. Party chief Sonia Gandhi said the President’s speech had nothing new but was a rehash of UPA policies.

The ruling BJP also has its hands full after rights activist Anna Hazare on Monday started a protest against the “anti-farmer” land law.

He got support from old associates Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, the chief minister of Delhi and his deputy whose Aam Aadmi Party had routed the BJP in the national capital’s assembly polls. They will join Hazare in his protest on Tuesday.

“This is land grab by the government … This is what the British used to do. To cater to industrialists, how can you betray farmers?” Hazare said before his dharna at Jantar Mantar.

Given the heat generated by the land law before the NDA government’s presents its first full-year budget on February 28, fear mounted within the BJP of a possible Parliament washout in the face of the Opposition’s belligerent stand.

Barring Prime Minister Modi, top BJP leaders closeted on Monday evening to see if the bill to be place before Lok Sabha could be further refined to pacify the protesters.

There were hints that the government might consider the demands when Parliament debates the bill.

“We discussed all issues, including land acquisition. We discussed issues farmers have raised. Twenty-seven farmer organisations have met home minister Rajnath Singh,” Union minister Ananth Kumar said.

“We will consider what is on farmers’ minds. The Prime Minister has said at an all-party meet we will welcome suggestions.”

The prime objection to the land acquisition ordinance has been that it removed the need for written consent from 70% of landowners for joint public-private projects.

To make matters worse, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) has also raised objection to the ordinance, seeing in it a reason for the BJP’s drubbing in Delhi.

The government tried its hand to bring the Opposition on board as PM Modi said dialogue and discussion were an essential part of democracy and hoped for a positive outcome of the budget session.

He walked up to the opposition benches with folded hands after entering Lok Sabha on Monday morning — a first by the Prime Minister in almost nine months since taking charge.

Meanwhile, setting in motion the process of replacing ordinances relating coal mines, e-rickshaws and FDI in insurance with fresh bills, the government has listed for the withdrawal of old bills in Rajya Sabha.

Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal will move for withdrawal of these bills.

The government is racing against time to convert the six ordinances into bills in the first part of the Budget session, which comes to an end on March 20.

The government will also introduce a bill in Lok Sabha to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, which will replace the ordinance promulgated on the issue recently.

(Agencies)

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