BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Friday indicated that he would reshuffle his council of ministers before next year's budget session. Talking to reporters in the press room of the State Assembly here, the Chief Minister however said no exact date could be given for the reshuffle. ``A reshuffle takes place because of political considerations in view of political conditions prevailing at a particular time,'' Singh said. He said a reshuffle was not something like replacing an officer who retires on a particular date. Replying to another query, Singh said crops had been affected in 27 out of 45 districts due to a hailstorm during the last three days.

Plea on Churhat panel order admitted

JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday admitted a writ petition filed by senior BJP leader Kailash Joshi challenging the order of the one-man Justice P Bhaskaran Commission inquiring into the affairs of the Churhat Children's Welfare Society not to summon senior Congress leader Arjun Singh before it for cross examination. Justice R S Garg after hearing Joshi's counsel Rakesh Jain admitted the petition challenging the Commission's order of May 8 this year not to summon Singh. The judge directed the state government and Singh to file their replies on or before December 5.

Cong affirms pledge on Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday said it was committed to getting statehood for Uttarakhand at the earliest and would raise the issue in Parliament. Addressing a gathering of Uttarakhand activists, observing a fast at the Congress headquarters here, party president Sitaram Kesri assured them of his ``whole-hearted support to their long-standing, genuine demand for statehood to Uttarakhand.'' Kesri said he would ``personally'' take up this issue with the government.

Clarify position, Cong MLA told

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Assembly Speaker M Vijayakumar on Friday asked the Congress MLA from Chittur, K Achuthan, to clarify his reported decision to resign his membership of the Assembly. The Speaker, in his notice to the MLA, asked him to clarify his position within three days in view of conflicting reports regarding his decision to resign, Legislature Secretariat sources said. Achuthan announced his decision to quit the Assembly and the party at Palakkad on November 15, expressing grief over the ``unabated faction feud'' in the state unit of the Congress. The Speaker's office, however, received the communication from Achuthan only on Friday.

HC cancels 4 more LPG dealerships

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday cancelled four more LPG dealerships allotted from the discretionary quota of former petroleum minister Satish Sharma during 1994-95. A division bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice D K Jain cancelled four dealerships taking the total number of petrol pumps and dealership in LPG and kerosene cancelled to 93. The bench had on August 29 cancelled 69 such allotments asking the Petroleum Ministry and the concerned oil companies to take over the cancelled allotments and auction them.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.