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New Delhi, March 9 Although still holding out hope of a last-minute electoral tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Congress is preparing to fight the coming polls in Uttar Pradesh on its own.  Pawar meets SoniaJayaprada quits TDP, joins Samajwadi Party
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Vidarbha issue forces Cong to woo rebels
Mumbai, March 9 The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra are making all efforts to woo rebels from their ranks who threaten to stage an upset over the issue of creation of a separate Vidarbha. CPM
exposes ‘India shining’ campaign Om Puri joins Cong, hits out at BJP
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Probe charge against Pant’s son: court
Godhra train arson a dark spot, says RSS
CPM fields Sil from Kolkata NW
SC okays 2.34 cr relief to Cauvery riot victims
Kalam mourns Chandrasekhar’s death
EC stops fund disbursal
in J&K
Hindujas’ plea in Bofors case dismissed
HC upholds Puri’s appointment as SIT chief
Punjab seeks funds for Khalsa Heritage Project
480 Delhi Sikhs to visit Pak on Baisakhi
Jane Fonda meets violence victims
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With BSP dilly dallying, Cong may go it alone in UP
New Delhi, March 9 This was reiterated here today by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who told presspersons, “If an alliance works out in Uttar Pradesh, well and good. Otherwise we will fight alone.” Ms Gandhi’s remarks were basically meant to prepare the party workers in Uttar Pradesh to fight the elections on their own instead of waiting endlessly for an alliance with the BSP to materialise. As a matter of strategy, the party had decided to adopt a targeted approach and concentrate on 40 seats where the Congress was considered to be in a relatively strong position. While concentrating on these ‘winnable’ seats, the UP screening committee had held several sittings to identify candidates for the remaining 40 seats as well. “We have scrutinised candidates for all 80 constituencies but we shall concentrate on 40 seats which, in our assessment, are winning seats for the Congress,” Mr Birendra Singh, AICC, in charge of UP, told presspersons today. Congress spokesperson Salman Khursheed said these constituencies were identified on the basis of the party’s past performance and the personal strength of the candidates concerned. While it was being hoped that the first list of candidates for these constituencies would be announced shortly, the AICC had also constituted a team of fairly senior-level 40 coordinators who would be stationed in each of these constituencies to supervise the campaign. The coordinators, who were put through a quick training today, were expected to take charge within the next three-four days and would stay in their respective constituencies till the election was over. Given how crucial Uttar Pradesh was in these elections and also in view of the Congress party’s poor standing there, party President Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to again visit the state for pre-election campaign tours by early April. Ms Gandhi had already been on an exhaustive three-phase ‘ an samparak’ programme in UP. Clearly, party strategists were feeling the need for a further follow-up. |
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Pawar meets Sonia New Delhi, March 9 |
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Jayaprada quits TDP, joins Samajwadi Party
Lucknow, March 9 Draped in light green saree, Jayaprada walked into the meeting where Yadav was addressing party workers and amidst clapping she declared her joining the party. “I am impressed with the grit and determination of Mulayam Singh Yadav to fight communal forces and therefore, I have decided to join the Samajwadi Party,” Jayaprada said. “I will do my best and campaign for the party in South.” “I want to contribute to the progress of Uttar Pradesh selflessly as I
feel that the nation cannot develop without the progress of its states,” she said. Jayaprada, who gave hit films with Amitabh Bachchan and Jitendra, was a Rajya Sabha Member on the Telugu Desam ticket. “With Chandrababu Naidu joining hands with the BJP, I decided to part ways,” she said. “Today I can declare that the Samajwadi Party will have a greater say in the government formation in the post-election scenario,” she said. The team of star campaigners for the Samajwadi Party has increased with Jayaprada joining Mulayam Singh Yadav. Amitabh Bachchan, his wife
Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishakh, Raj Babbar, Raza Murad, and Dilip Kumar are expected to campaign for the party. Later addressing party workers, Yadav said influence of the party was increasing. “The feel good factor is nothing but a mirage created by the BJP … go to villages and popularise the good work done by the state government,” he said. Party’s national General Secretary Amar Singh said the party had set a target of 60 seats in Uttar Pradesh. “If we can win this many seats, we will play a greater role in government formation,” he said. |
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Vidarbha issue forces Cong to woo rebels
Mumbai, March 9 Leaders of both parties have met rebel leaders like industrialist Banwarilal Purohit, Datta Meghe of the NCP, Prakash Ambedkar of the Republican Party of India and several local politicians who have latched onto the Vidarbha Aghadi. The forum was floated recently by farmer leader Sharad Joshi along with Meghe, Ambedkar and others. Joshi further hinted that the Aghadi would ally with the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. Congress leaders here indicate that a deal on Vidarbha may be signed to placate the proponents of a separate state. Statehood remains an emotional issue in the region where local people have for long been demanding to break away from Maharashtra. Congress-NCP leaders fear that the Vidarbha Aghadi along with the BJP may cut into their votes in the event of a neck-to-neck contest in the region. |
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CPM
exposes ‘India shining’ campaign New Delhi, March 9 Exposing the myth of one crore jobs created by the Vajpayee government during its tenure, the CPM said over 6.52 lakh jobs were lost in the public sector alone. The
Left party also took the NDA government to task for “manipulating”
the Planning Commission to “spread lies” on the employment front
which, it said, witnessed a massive decline in job opportunities in
the agriculture, small-scale industry and in the organised and
unorganised sectors. At a press conference here, party politburo
member Sitaram Yechuri and party Rajya Sabha leader Nilotpal Basu
released the first in a series of fact sheets on the “hollow claims”
of the NDA titled “Is India really shining? lies, damned lies and
statistics”. The party will release the second fact sheet on food security tomorrow. Referring
to the Planning Commission’s claim that the NDA government’s
promise to create one crore jobs per year during the last Lok Sabha
elections had almost been achieved with 84 lakh jobs created on an
average per year between 1999-2000 and 2002-03, the CPM leaders said
the increase had been shown based upon a thin sample survey (58th NSS
round), which was “unreal”. “The Economic Survey 2002-03 also
showed a reduction in employment growth rate in the small-scale
industries from 4.03 per cent in 1999-2000 to 3.5 per cent in
2001-2002,” it said. |
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Cong questions BJP’s claim on IT revolution
New Delhi, March 9 “In the context of today’s economy, let the people decide whether it is ‘balle balle’ (hailing) Congress or BJP’s feel good factor, which brought the telecom service to the citizens at their doorstep,” senior advocate R K Anand, MP and member of AICC Media Cell in a statement said. Criticising the BJP for claiming credit for telecom revolution, he said without the efforts of Rajiv Gandhi, the country would have not achieved the desired result in this sector. Giving details about the series of litigations after the Congress government had introduced the telecom policy, which was opposed ‘tooth and nails’ by some the then Opposition parties, Mr Anand said BJP was one of them. But for the farsightedness of the Congress, it was then estimated that the privatisation of telephony would contribute nearly Rs 41,700 crore to the State exchequer by way of licence fee in next 15 years. “The Congress government had taken an unprecedented decision and travelled on an uncharted path when we look at the progress achieved in telecom sector between 1994 and 2004,” he said adding “there were forces which were opposed to entry of private sector into basic telephony, including the BJP, which now talks of feel good on this account.” |
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Om Puri joins Cong, hits out at BJP
Mumbai, March 9 Speaking
at a crowded press conference at the Congress office here, the actor
said he was ‘totally disturbed’ at the alleged state patronage to
the Gujarat riots. “One can understand violent reaction to an
incident for a brief period. But, riots cannot continue for six months
without the state patronage. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots were controlled
in three days. It is not that the Congress has not made mistakes. Now,
they have realised it,” he pointed out. “It’s not enough to say
sorry now for the Gujarat riots.” “I will not contest elections,
but campaign for the party in every way I can to ensure its victory.” About
Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, Mr Puri said if
the Constitution provided that she could contest elections, she was
eligible for any post. “Anyway the decision regarding Prime
Ministership was a matter to be taken after the polls.” Education,
poverty, water scarcity, roads and electricity were the main issues
facing the nation today and the real development would be when there
were less slums and more jobs, he said.
— UNI |
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Probe charge against Pant’s son: court
New Delhi, March 9 Metropolitan Magistrate G.P. Singh in his order said, “Complaintant Kanwal Chaudhri is alleging
tresspass, vulgar utterances and outrage of her modesty by some persons employed by the accused to install a generator on the roof”. “There appears room for investigation. Investigate and file a report by July 27, 2003,” Mr Singh said in the order. In a complaint Ms Chaudhri said she is the owner of Chaudhri House, 10-A, Kasturba Gandhi Marg in central Delhi and had sold one apartment on the first floor to Ranjan Pant. According to the sale deed, he did not have the right to access the roof of the house and could fix a TV antenna and a water tank on the roof of the servant quarter. But flouting the norms laid down in the deed, Rajan Pant had allegedly tried to fix a generator on the roof in June 2003, she said.
— UNI |
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Godhra train arson a dark spot, says RSS
Jaipur, March 9 The root cause of the violence in Gujarat was the arson at Godhra, RSS Prachar Pramukh Srikant Joshi told reporters. Mr Joshi, who along with the other top leaders of the RSS will attend the three-day ‘pratinidhi sabha’ beginning on Friday at
Jamdoli, 14 km from here, said it should be a subject of introspection why incidents like Godhra happen in India. “You need to go into the root causes,’’ he said. He expressed confidence that the Ram temple issue would be raised during the Lok Sabha poll.
— UNI |
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CPM fields Sil from Kolkata NW
Kolkata, March 9 Mr Jyoti Basu said the party was ready to the exchange the Kolkata NW seat with the RJD against the Samastipur and Madhubani seats in Bihar which Mr Yadav also agreed to earlier. But the RJD now demanded that the Kolkata seat be exchanged against Bhagalpur which the CPM won in the 1999 elections with the RJD's support and not Samastipur and Madhubani. The RJD's new demand is unreasonable which cannot be met by any means, remarked Mr Basu, adding that the CPM, therefore, decided to field its candidate at Kolkata NW. He felt that the poll prospects of the their candidate at Kolkata NW were brightened following a leadership rift in the Trinamool Congress over the seat. |
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SC okays 2.34 cr relief to Cauvery riot victims
New Delhi, March 9 A Bench of Mr Justice S. Rajindera Babu, Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur said it was satisfied with the amount fixed by Cauvery Riots Relief Authority (CRRA) for 9,576 victims in Karnataka and 93 in Tamil Nadu, saying that the authority had taken into account all facts while determining the relief. The CRRA had fixed Rs 2.05 crore relief amount for the victims in Karnataka and Rs 29.93 lakh to those in Tamil Nadu, when the two states had witnessed riots on the distribution of Cauvery river water. The riots followed an interim order of the Cauvery River Water Tribunal in June 1991, asking Karnataka to release 205 TMC feet of water to Tamil Nadu. The riots had first occurred in Karnataka after an ordinance promulgated by the state government against implementation of the tribunal’s interim order, was struck down by the Supreme Court in December 1991. Violent mobs in Karnataka had targeted Tamilians and in retaliatory action Kannadigas were attacked in Tamil Nadu. While the Tamil Nadu Government had estimated the loss to Tamilians in Karnataka worth Rs 300 crore the state’s Home Department had put it at Rs 47.28 crore. The CRRA’s order fixing the relief at Rs 2.34 crore to the victims in both the states, was challenged by some of them in the apex court on the ground that the relief was substantially inadequate. But the court said since the CRRA was set up by it to look into the victims’ claims and it had decided the cases by “applying its mind”, it was not possible for it to examine each case separately. |
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Kalam mourns Chandrasekhar’s death
New Delhi, March 9 In a condolence letter to Dr Chandrasekhar’s wife, Ila, the President said: “Dr Chandrasekhar was one of the leading pioneers in the study and research of liquid crystals. He had the good fortune of being a student of Nobel Laureate Sir C.V. Raman, who instilled in him the desire to continuously explore the mysteries of science.” “His contribution to this exciting field of science will be long remembered, as well as his role in the founding of the Centre for Liquid Crystal Research,” Dr Kalam said. |
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EC stops fund disbursal
in J&K New Delhi, March 9 Taking objection to the release of funds for various works with backdated orders, in violation of the model code of conduct, the commission ordered immediate stoppage of further disbursal of funds. The commission also ordered the removal of Deputy Commissioners of Doda, Rajauri, Kathua, Srinagar, Kupwara and Anantnag districts and the SSP of Jammu on the basis of complaints and their past record. The commission also ordered removal of Karnataka’s Chamaraj Nagar Deputy Commissioner. The EC had ordered the removal of these officials following the visit by its three-member panel to Karnataka and the visit by Deputy Election Commissioner to Jammu and Kashmir. |
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2 aircraft carriers by 2011: George
On Board INS Mumbai, March 9 “The indigenously built ADS is out of drawing board and the first steel is likely to be cut by this year end. The aircraft carrier is likely to be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2011”, Mr Fernandes told a select group of mediapersons on board the missile destroyer off the Goa coast yesterday. The country has already finalised the Admiral Gorshkov deal and the Russian aircraft carrier was likely to be inducted into the Indian Navy soon. The Defence Minister’s statement, who earlier witnessed breathtaking naval exercises somewhere in the blue waters of Arabian Sea, assumes significance in the backdrop of India’s solitary aircraft carrier INS Virat being phased out in next seven to eight years. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh, who was also present on the occasion, said the Navy needed three aircraft carriers and the government was well aware of “our concerns and accepts our position”. However, due to financial constraints “we will have two aircraft carriers”, and once the situation improves, which, he said would in near future, then the country can have three aircraft carriers. Admiral Madhivendra Singh also disclosed that the Indian Navy was scouting the global market for long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft. “This is something we need urgently. Though not many are available in the market, we are in search of them”, he said.
— PTI |
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Gorshkov handed over to Indian Navy Moscow, March 9 After the signing ceremony, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Colonel-General A.M. Moskovsky handed over the aircraft carrier to Indian Ambassador to Russia K. Raghunath. — UNI |
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Hindujas’ plea in Bofors case dismissed
New Delhi, March 9 Mr Justice J.D. Kapoor, while dismissing the applications, said: “I do not perceive any reason whatsoever to modify the February 4 order as prayed by the petitioners (Hindujas). The applications are dismissed as being not maintainable and misconceived. The Hinduja brothers — S.P. Hinduja, P.P. Hinduja and G.P. Hinduja — had sought modification of February 4 judgement of Mr Justice Kapoor which had quashed the corruption charges against them but directed the framing of cheating and conspiracy charges in the pay-off case. The petitioners had stated that earlier the Supreme Court while directing the framing of charges against them “in accordance with law” had allowed fresh arguments on charge. In light of this, they had argued that the trial court should hear arguments afresh on the question of framing charges. The Judge said Hindujas’ petitions challenging a special court’s order framing charges against them in the case was disposed of after hearing extensive arguments. The trial of the case is fixed for further proceedings before the Magistrate on March 15.
— PTI |
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HC upholds Puri’s appointment as SIT chief Mumbai, March 9 Chief Justice C.K. Thakker and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud of the Bombay High Court ruled that the appointment of Mr S.S. Puri as the head of the SIT was legal and in accordance with the law. In their order, the judges said that the earlier orders of the Bombay High Court appointing Mr Puri as the head of the SIT were passed for a conducting a fair and an impartial probe which was also supported by the state government and the Centre. In his petition Mr Sharma had sought to squash the appointment of Mr Puri on the ground that there cannot be two Directors-General of Police in Maharashtra. |
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Punjab seeks funds for Khalsa Heritage Project
New Delhi, March 9 The Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, today met leading bankers, including Chairman of Punjab National Bank S.S. Kohli and Central Bank CMD Dalbir Singh, and sought funds for the completion of the project, which, he said, “when completed would attract people from all over the globe.” “We are asking banks to be a party to the project to make it get going,” he said. “We are trying to keep the project going, but are unable to do so because of financial crunch,” he said. “The total expenditure on the project is Rs 221 crore. Around Rs 76 crore has been spent so far. A total of Rs 145 crore is needed more to complete the project,” said Mr D.S. Jaspal, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, of the state. He said while the Chief Minister had promised to contribute Rs 48 crore, another Rs 48 crore is to come from the Centre. We plan to collect Rs 49 crore through community efforts. But since the later two phases are going to take time, urgent funds are needed to complete one phase of the museum, which could be open to public by September coinciding with the fourth centenary celebrations of Guru Granth Sahib.
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480 Delhi Sikhs to visit Pak on Baisakhi
New Delhi, March 9 The group, which will be led by Bhai Ranjeet Singh, former Jathedar of Akal Takht, will visit Pakistan from April 6-15, Mr Chandok said. He, however, said the quota of 480 pilgrims granted by the government was very less and “we should have been given permission for at least 1,500 pilgrims as Delhi has a large Sikh population”. |
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Jane Fonda meets violence victims
Mumbai, March 9 Fonda, dressed in a crimson spaghetti top, appeared moved after she emerged from the crisis centre after spending around two hours with the victims of domestic violence and sharing a heart-to-heart talk about the sufferings undergone by these women. ‘V-day’ is a global movement to end violence against women and girls and aims at promoting creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalise the spirit of existing anti-violence organisations. Speaking to reporters later, Fonda said she was in Mumbai as part of an effort to sensitise people towards violence against women and its repercussions.
— PTI |
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