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Maharashtra Govt threatens to sue Modi
BJP questions Sonia’s silence on Bofors
Amitabh says Gandhi family “closed the door” on him
JD(S) releases manifesto
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Haryana DGP going on leave satisfies EC
CPM to contest Anantnag seat
22-cr customs fraud detected in Bangalore
Sonu Nigam, Preity to hold live shows in Pak
Visa racket busted
Fasting marks Good Friday
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Maharashtra Govt threatens to sue Modi
Mumbai, April 9 Addressing election rallies in Mumbai, Mr Modi had called Mrs Gandhi an “ill-fated” woman. Supporting his statement, the Gujarat Chief Minister said Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar came down with an ailment on the day he kicked off a joint election campaign with Mrs Gandhi. “She accompanied Pawar at their first-ever joint rally in Solapur last week. The next day Pawar had to be hospitalised,” Mr Modi had been quoted as saying. He even attacked Mrs Gandhi for claiming a threat to her life. Mr Modi asked her to shift to Gujarat where his BJP government would guarantee her safety. Mr Patil told reporters here that Mr Modi’s statement was derogatory to women in general besides being an insult to the Congress members. Though Mr Patil said Mr Modi’s statement invited prosecution, the state government had not decided to take a decision to his effect. However, state government sources said a case may be registered against Mr Modi even after the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Modi had to apologise in a television programme for his earlier statements against Mrs Gandhi. At an election rally in Gujarat with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Mr Modi called Mrs Gandhi an imported Jersey cow and her son Rahul a hybrid calf, referring to the Congress party’s old election symbol of a cow and a calf. Mr Modi, however, withdrew his remarks and promised to watch his words after his own party leaders condemned his statement. |
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BJP questions Sonia’s silence on Bofors
New Delhi, April 9 “The right to silence may be available to an accused in the court but not to political persons, before the people, particularly those who aspire to hold high offices,” BJP spokesman and Law Minister Arun Jaitley told newspersons here. Mr Jaitley charged that her silence was no evidence of her ignorance as “silence is becoming more and more eloquent, which indicates a desire for concealment and seeks to avoid embarrasment of disclosure.” “Ms Gandhi’s continued silence was becoming curioser and curimser,” he added. Mr Jaitley said while the Congress party wanted to hide behind legalism, BJP had raised the questions in “public domain.” The questions were how close was she to Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi, why he was allowed to escape from India and why the Bofors deal was influenced. He regretted that instead of Ms Gandhi, the response was coming from two lawyers (Ram Jethamalani and Kapil Sibal) who were attorneys to the alleged recipients (Hindujas) of the Bofors kickbacks. “Bofors has brought together Congress and Mr Jethmalani, who had defended the killers of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and a well-known baiter of late Rajiv Gandhi, who used to ask him a question every day on the Bofors issue. It is a contractual relationship and the people and Congressmen will see for themselves the reasons behind such adjustments,” Mr Jaitley said in a sarcastic manner. |
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Amitabh says Gandhi family “closed the door” on him
New Delhi, April 9 “There are personal reasons (for the break in relations),” he said in an interview given to a news channel. Asked if he would like to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said, “For what?... when the doors have been closed.” In a candid admission that he was a failure in politics, he said it was because he did not have the qualifications of a successful politician. Quizzed on his relationship with Amar Singh, he described the Samajwadi Party leader as a “personal friend, a family
friend and younger brother” whom he had known for a long time. — PTI |
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JD(S) releases manifesto
Bangalore, April 9 Releasing the manifesto here today, JD (S) national president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said the current BJP-led government was only serving the interests of the rich and middle class to the detriment of the rural populace. The manifesto sets out to make a case for a major involvement of regional parties in the federal government. Regional parties have the strength to give new direction to national politics, he said, but criticised the Telugu Desam, Samata Party, DMK, AIADMK, and the Trinamool Congress for indulging in “opportunistic politics” with their various alliances. It is important to throw out the “fascist forces” and a realignment of “secular” parties opposed to the Congress could happen after the elections, he said. The manifesto also promises modernisation of the defence forces, independent foreign policy keeping up a relationship with only “time-tested friendly countries”, and reorganisation of the country’s intelligence structure to meet the terrorism threat |
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Haryana DGP going on leave satisfies EC
Raipur, April 9 Chief Election Commissioner T. S. Krishnamurthy, who today reviewed preparations for one-day polling in the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state, said later that the observers were being trained to freely record polling, specially in areas where problems were anticipated. The step is being seen as a measure to bring greater transparency in polling in the Naxalite-affected tribal areas and places where incidents of violence could occur. Asked about the commission’s response to the Haryana DGP’s going on leave till Lok Sabha elections were over, Mr Krishnamurthy said the commission’s requirements had been met and no further action would be taken. “As far as requirements of the EC are concerned, these have been met as long as there is no interference,” he said. To a question about the commission needing more powers to get its directives enforced, the CEC said no such powers were needed for the conduct of elections. He, however, added that some reforms were needed for regulation of political parties. The Election Commission today received complaints from the Opposition parties in the state about the misuse of official machinery. Both the Congress and BJP made complaints against each other about model code of conduct violation in Mahasamund where Mr Jogi is fighting against the BJP’s V. C. Shukla. The CEC indicated that the commission could appoint more observers in the constituency. Mr Krishnamurthy said the commission was examining the Congress complaint against an
advertisement by the state BJP in which Congress President was referred to as
Italywasi. |
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CPM to contest Anantnag seat
New Delhi, April 9 The decision to field the sitting MLA was announced here today by the CPM politburo member Prakash Karat. Party’s central committee member Tarigami would be contesting against PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference candidate Mehboob
Baigh. |
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22-cr customs fraud detected in Bangalore
Bangalore, April 9 “Given the current inspection regime of these EOUs, which is fairly relaxed with a view to encourage exporters, this may only be a part of the kinds of violations going on. While most importers and exporters are genuine, a small percentage likes to take advantage of the relaxed regime. We have been able to recover about Rs 11 crore out of the detected duty frauds,” he said. He was speaking at a press conference convened by the Bangalore Customs Department to highlight the performance of the Bangalore zone, which includes Mangalore and Cochin. These duty frauds include misuse of export promotion schemes. Fraudulent importers make a false declaration about the country of origin with an intention to avoid anti-dumping duty. “Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFB) from China are a case in point, as are batteries, pencil torches, pocket FM radios and the likes. CFBs can be purchased for Rs 40 in some shops, while a branded product made in India sells for around Rs 200. Some EOUs import duty-free goods, meant for use in products which are in turn meant for exporting, and sell these in the domestic market. Raw silk, again from China, is an example where this happens. Certain low grades of silk attract high duty,” he said. Mr R. Sundar Raman, Chief Commissioner of Customs, said the zone achieved a revenue of Rs 3,925 crore in 2003-2004, three per cent over target, and 12.5 per cent over last year’s revenue. “Provisional figures indicate that we are number one in growth in the country,” he said. Customs collection has been Rs 48,600 crore in the country, as against a target of Rs 49,350 crore. Petroleum products and electrical machinery are the main items of import, while readymade garments, textiles and coffee form the bulk of exports through Bangalore. The number of passengers at the Bangalore International Airport has gone up by 88,000 over the last year’s 3.89 lakh. In case of the Cochin International Airport, the number has gone up by 2.5 lakh passengers. |
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Sonu Nigam, Preity to hold live shows in Pak
New Delhi, April 9 After ghazal singer Jagjit Singh’s recent performance in Lahore, several Bollywood celebrities are to perform at live shows in Pakistan. Depilex Vision Limited, a creative and performing arts academy in Pakistan has signed an agreement with K Kraft, an Indian event management company owned by music director Anand Raj Anand, to organise shows in Pakistan featuring several Bollywood stars, trade sources said. In the first of such concerts, famous singer Sonu Nigam will appear in a show titled “Sur Se Sur Milao”, which will feature alongside Sonu Pakistani singers Amjad Sabri and Farih Pervaiz. The show, tentatively scheduled for June 15, will be a tribute to legendary Pakistani and Indian singers Noorjehan , Mehdi Hasan, Ahmed Rushdi, Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Among other stars who would feature in Bollywood shows in Pakistan are Preity Zinta, Urmila Matondkar, Hritik Roshan, Salman Khan, Jackie Shroff, Rani Mukherjee and Raveena Tandon. DVL Director Mubasher Luqman told Daily Times recently that he had discussed the visit of these Indian stars with K Kraft ‘in minute detail’ and all shows would be conducted professionally. He said as part of “collaboration between DVL and the Institute of Mass Communication at Jamia University, Jamia will every year award five DVL students one-year scholarships to study in their institute at New Delhi. After their studies, they will be eligible for apprenticeship in leading production houses in India. According to him, Jagjit Singh has agreed to teach classes and prepare singing course at DVL. Mr Luqman, who studied film direction from Columbia University, told Daily Times he had signed on for a film in India as director and co-producer. However, the film will be shot in Canada and can only be shown in Pakistan as a foreign film. He said he had recently toured India with a group of producers and directors during which he had tried to raise awareness about the annual Rs 17 billion loss caused by piracy to the film industries in India and Pakistan. Mr Luqman said veteran filmmaker icon Yash Chopra and Indian Movie Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) Chairman Sawan Kumar agreed with him that piracy should be stopped.
— UNI |
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Visa racket busted
New Delhi, April 9 The travel agency, named Hindustan Tours and Travels, was being run from shop No 23/90 in Connaught Place for the past two years, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Anita Roy told a press conference today.
— UNI |
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New Delhi, April 9 They attended special prayer services in churches on “the agony of Christ” and took out processions carrying replica of wooden cross and singing hymns. Churches organised “stations of the cross” focussing on various episodes of Jesus’ life, including his trial by a court of priest. — PTI |
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