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Sonia promises law and order in Bihar
HC orders arrest of 3 Bihar MLAs
Crackdown on TDP activists |
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Goa Assembly to meet on Feb 3 for trust vote
ULFA militants surrender
SC stays arrest of journalists in Judeo case
1993 riot case: BJP leaders surrender
Nanavati defers submission of report
SC refuses to vacate stay on ‘Black Friday’
Shabana in race for NCW chief’s post
India, Russia, China triangle significant: Natwar
Prime accused in Nyas chief attack case shot at
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Sonia promises law and order in
Bihar
Arrah (Bihar), January 31 Addressing a large crowd which turned up at the venue despite drizzle, Ms Gandhi said: “Being a woman and a mother I feel the pain and anguish of the parents of the kidnapped schoolchildren.” She said that the party would ensure that the law and order situation in Bihar improved and after the election the state affairs would be conducted on the basis of a common minimum programme like the UPA government at the Centre. Stressing on the need to empower women and provide them security, the Congress President said that much more needed to be done for women and weaker sections. She recalled contribution of the state to the freedom movement and said that all sections had contributed to make the country independent. She pointed out that the Congress had always opposed casteism and had taken everyone along. “Bihar is a land of great men like Gautam Buddha and Mahavir. But the state today needs peace and communal harmony,” she said. Attacking communal forces, she said peace and harmony alone could quicken the pace of development. Earlier in Buxar, Ms Sonia Gandhi said the Congress would strive for a coalition government in the state that worked. She assured that the Congress would try to execute programmes which ensured speedy development. She assured that the interests of farmers would be looked after. “I feel that much more needs to be doen in the areas of health, education and infrastructure.” Ms Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to address another public meeting at Hazaribagh but it had to be cancelled because of heavy rains. |
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RJD posters communal, says BJP
Bhagalpur (Bihar),
January 31 Several posters of a man crying with Laloo’s photograph proclaiming him as the saviour of Muslims holding the BJP responsible for the Godhra incident and its aftermath were found pasted on walls in Muslim-dominated areas in Bhagalpur town and Nathnagar Assembly constituency.
— PTI |
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HC orders arrest of 3 Bihar MLAs
Patna, January 31 The court also rejected the prayer of absconding former minister and ruling party MLA from Belaganj, Surendra Yadav, to review the order for his arrest in three criminal cases and directed him to surrender on February 4. Responding to petitions filed by common voters requesting the arrest of absconding MLA from Biharsharif Pappu Khan, and Prahalad Yadav from Lakhisarai, both of the RJD, and Mehboob Alam, CPI-ML member from Barsoi in Katihar district, a Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Nagendra Rai and Justice S.N. Hussain directed the Superintendents of Police of Nalanda, Lakhisarai and Katihar to arrest them and report to the court by February 7. All three were facing murder charges
— PTI |
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Crackdown on TDP activists
Hyderabad, January 31 While 300 cases were booked against more than 2000 TDP party men across the state for their role in the damage to public and private property after Paritala Ravi, a senior TDP leader, was murdered on January 25, the police today swooped on the opposition party offices and took hundreds into custody. Among those arrested and remanded to jails included TDP politburo member K. Balarama Krishnamurthy along with 93 activists in Prakasam district, Rajahmundry Mayor Chakravathry along with 260 party workers in East Godavari district and MLA Sayanna with 39 party men in Hyderabad. The police said arrests would continue tomorrow also. In the violence that followed Ravi's death, as many as 85 state-run buses were burnt and another 500 buses were damaged. Several ministers in the Rajasekhara Reddy government accused TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu of provoking his party cadre to resort to violence and said cases would filed against the TDP leaders and activists who indulged in violence. Those responsible would be made to pay up for the damage done to public property, the ministers declared. DGP Swaranjit Sen said Mr Naidu would be arrested if his role in the statewide violence was proved. The TDP criticized the Congress government of vendetta and with foisting false cases against the party men and said the ruling party was trying to divert the attention of the people from the state-sponsored killing of Ravi. “Instead of nabbing the Congress leaders who plotted the killing, the DGP is talking like a politician. The government does not want the truth to come out,the TDLP deputy leader N. Janardhan Reddy said. Meanwhile, in a sensational allegation, Panchayat Raj Minister J. C. Divakara Reddy, who was named in the murder FIR as one of the conspirators, said Mr Naidu was behind the killing of Ravi, as the former Chief Minister feared the growing clout of his own party leader.
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Goa Assembly to meet on Feb 3 for trust vote Mumbai, January 31 "Let the
uncertainty end one way or the other," Parrikar told journalists after a hurriedly called Cabinet meeting. Three of his ministers had already quit in the attempt to bring down the government. Parrikar's Tourism Minister Matanhy Saldanha, who is tipped to play the role of king-maker in the state legislature, however, stood behind the Chief Minister. "I am not a migratory bird to flit from one party to another," Saldanha told reporters. Saldanha's party, the United Goans' Democratic Party, has thrown in with the Congress-led coalition aiming to overthrow Parrikar's government. However being the lone MLA, Saldanha has chosen to defy his own party despite the threat of disqualification under the anti-defection laws. Saldanha, a college teacher by profession, has been at the forefront of a number of agitations against successive Congress led governments in Goa. Meanwhile, political maneoverings were on in both the Congress as well as the BJP camps. The Congress party filed a notice of no-confidence against Speaker Viswas Satarkar and deputy speaker Narhari Haldankar. The speaker, an MLA from the BJP, on his part admitted a disqualification petition by fellow legislator Rajesh Patnekar against Independent MLA Philip Neri Rodrigues who quit Parrikar's cabinet to join hands with the Congress-led alliance. |
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ULFA militants surrender
Guwahati, January 31 The militants surrendered before the GOC 4 Corps of the Indian Army, Lt- Gen Anup S. Jamwal said at Rangia, about 70 km away from here. Leading the pack of militants, veteran ULFA weapons expert and instructor Sachidananda Tara said they were disillusioned by the top brass of the outfit who were leading luxurious life along with their families abroad. ''We, the cadres, are subjected to hardships in jungle camps because of paucity of food and medicines while our leaders are having good time abroad. Many more cadres are willing to come back to the mainstream at the first opportunity,'' he said at a rehabilitation ceremony.
— UNI |
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SC stays arrest of journalists in Judeo case
New Delhi, January 31 Issuing notice to the CBI on a petition by Raipur-based Akasah Channel journalists Bhupendra Singh Patel and Arvind Vijaymohan, a Bench of Mr Justice Y K Sabharawal and Mr Justice P P Naolekar said “in the meantime the arrest of the petitioners is stayed.” Patel and Vijaymohan, who had carried the sting operation in November 2003 just before the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, had moved an appeal in the apex court against the Delhi High Court order, rejecting their petition for quashing of the charges of bribery against them and seeking anticipatory bail. Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the two journalists, argued that the charges of bribery to offer money to the BJP leader Judeo, a Minister of State for Environment and Forest in the NDA government, could not fall in the definition of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) as the subscriber had not “intended” to get any benefit in return for themselves. “They had done it in the public interest to expose the award of mining contracts on payment in Chhattisgarh,” he contended.To make a case of offering bribe to a public servant against a person under the PCA, he must obtain pecuniary or any other benefits from the public servant for himself, which was not the issue here, Venugopal argued. Admitting their appeal, the Court said the issue needed to be examined the totality. “It is high time that the matter has to be decided. This (the weapon of string operation) will affect both ways,” the Bench observed. Venugopal said that the two journalists had been called by the CBI to its headquarters at least 20 times for questioning, which was nothing but an exercise aimed at “harassing” them. They apprehend that they would be arrested once the investigation was complete and chargesheet was filed in the court, he said. When the court sought to know the progress in the case, Venugopal said as per his information, the investigation was still going on and the CBI had yet to obtain sanction from Rajya Sabha Chairman for the prosecution of Judeo, who is a member of the Upper House.
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1993 riot case: BJP leaders surrender
Bangalore, January 31 An arrest warrant had been issued by the lower court with regard to a protest held in front of the Chief Minister’s residence in 1993, demanding action against those involved in the Bhatkal (Coastal Karnataka) communal riots of 1992. Cases registered under the Indian Penal Code include attempt to murder against Mr Yediyurappa and Ramachandra Gowda , with regard to an assault on a police officer during the protest. Mr Yediyurappa has demanded withdrawal of all cases, stating that government machinery was being used to subvert democracy. “I came to know of this warrant from the newspapers. I am very much here, and there is no question of my running away. So I came here to surrender,” he told reporters outside the “I had been held then too, and this time, I too came to know about the warrant from the papers,” Suresh Kumar said. The lower court, issuing the warrant, had directed the police to execute the arrests before February 15. Police Commissioner S. Mariswamy had indicated that they would execute the warrant soon, when the BJP leaders surrendered today.
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Nanavati defers submission of report
New Delhi, January 31 Justice Nanavati had last week said that he would submit the report on January 31, the last day of the extended tenure of the Commission. But today he decided to defer the submission of the report till the return of the Home Minister. The report of the Commission, which was appointed by the previous NDA government in 1999, assumes significance as this was the second judicial body to probe the sequence of events leading to the large-scale violence against the Sikh community soon after the assassination Indira Gandhi. The Commission, during its five-year tenure, had probed into a number of allegations levelled against several Congress leaders over their involvement in the riots.
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SC refuses to vacate stay on ‘Black Friday’
New Delhi, January 31 Dismissing the petition of Mid-day Multimedia Ltd, the producer of the film, against the Bombay High Court’s last week’s order, a Bench of Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur asked the company’s counsel Ashok Desai to approach the High Court for any relief. The High Court had stayed the release of the film even after producer dropping the word “a true story” on Mumbai blasts from its promos and inserting a disclaimer as per the Special TADA Court order that the movie did not impute any guilt or innocence of any person. The stay was granted after some of the 33 accused in the Mumbai blast cases, had challenged the release of the film on the ground that it would “prejudice” the trail in the case against them. When Desai pointed out from the petition of the accused in the High Court that they even had raised allegations against the Special Judge that the verdict in the case was “pre-decided”, the Bench said all these issues should be raised before the High Court, which has posted hearing in the matter on February 3.
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Shabana in race for NCW chief’s post
New Delhi, January 31 Even before the last chairperson, Mrs Poornima Advani, completed her five-year term nearly a week ago, hectic lobbying had begun for this prestigious post. The human resource development (HRD) ministry has received recommendations of as many as 50 contenders. The government sources indicated that Shabana Azmi, actor-turned-activist, who has also served as a Rajya Sabha member, is a strong contender. Often referred to as a champion of social causes and a “woman’s woman”, Shabana is learnt to be the choice of the Left parties whose proximity to HRD minister Arjun Singh is well-known. However, this choice could meet with some resistance from the Congress which would like to appoint one of its own nominees to this post. Ms Girija Vyas, chairperson of the AICC media department, and Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Mahila Congress president, are also in contention. Ms Vyas has been a minister both in the state and the Centre and was the Rajasthan PCC president till a year ago. Ms Joshi has taught in Allahabad University and has been actively involved in women’s issues. Ms Rebello, a former MP, is an AICC secretary. In their cases, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is still evaluating whether the party can spare them. Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan, who was approached for this post, declined as she did not wish to move out of mainstream politics. It is learnt that the CPM leader Brinda Karat also refused the post for the same reason. Besides the chairperson, a number of former bureaucrats are lobbying to get in as members of the NCW. Among those whose recommendations have reached the HRD ministry include two former secretaries Ms Binoo Sen and Ms Vinita Rai. The government sources said there was also a view that the ministry use this opportunity to overhaul the entire Commission by replacing all five members. The HRD ministry is yet to decide on this but it is believed that such a change could bring in greater cohesion in the NCW which has, so far, been wracked by bitter infighting.
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India, Russia, China triangle significant: Natwar
New Delhi, January 31 Inaugurating the seminar on "India and Russia in the 21st century— Foundations of Partnership" organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi, the Minister said time has come to consider "economic cooperation at a trilateral level", instead of the traditional bilateral level between these countries. The Minister said he had proposed this idea at his meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China in Almaty in October last year. |
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Prime accused in Nyas chief attack case shot at
Ayodhya, January 31 The SP (city), Mr V.D. Shukla, said as soon as Vedanti entered the Ram Ballabh Kunj temple near the Janki ghat here, some persons started firing indiscriminately at him. Vedanti sustained serious injuries and was rushed to the district hospital.
— UNI |
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