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Advani too sings Modi raga
Haqeeqat Maha-rally |
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BJP wants SAD to give up claim on Jalandhar LS seat
3 BSP MPs disqualified
Karunanidhi plans action against pro-LTTE parties
TN parties seek take-over of Lankan island
Gandhi Sells
Gandhi’s last words not ‘hey Ram’: Book
Centre for more credit to rural poor
Pardon to Convicts
Nod to 4,000-cr US aircraft deal
Bird deaths in 14th WB dist
Viswanath releases autobiography
Veteran RSP leader Baby John dead
Malayalam actor Gopi dead
SC rejects armed assaulters’ self-defence plea
Clooney visits Delhi as UN peacekeeping messenger Taslima admitted
to AIIMS
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Advani too sings Modi raga
New Delhi, January 29 In his concluding remarks at the three-day National Executive and National Council meeting the BJP, Advani, while launching a broadside against the ruling coalition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi (without taking her name directly) showered praises on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the triumph of ‘good governance and development’ over the vote bank politics. Focusing on the Lok Sabha polls, Advani asked his party to effectively communicate with the people to create a nationwide urge for a BJP-led NDA government at the Centre by telling them that if they vote NDA to power then “the days of weak leadership will be over” and “there shall be no compromise in the fight against terrorism and Maoism”. Saying that the twin menace of terrorism and Maoism will be dealt with a heavy hand, Advani said “corruption at the top will not be tolerated”. If we came to power, Advani said “we shall make a sincere and determined effort to ensure that more and more common people, in villages a well as in towns and cities, are able to live better lives. For this, India’s economic growth will have to be further speeded up, made more broad-based geographically and socially, and,most importantly, reoriented for greater employment generation”. The NDA’s prime ministerial candidate said there had been ‘taunting questions’ about the rise of Modi on the political horizon. The intention behind asking such question is to sow the seeds of difference but the questioner should understand that the BJP is like a family which will not grudge a young man earning more than the head of the family, he said. Advani said Modi had shown the country that development and good performance win over the crooked designs of vote-bank politics. Advani also attacked the Left parties, the main prop of the UPA government, and said the Communists had never stood for national interests, be it during the independence struggle in 1940s when they sided with the British, or during 1962 war with China and in wars against Pakistan. “No governments in the past had given the ‘veto power’ to these forces and allowed them to apply brakes the way this government has done. No doubt Communists supported Indira Gandhi but she used them to accomplish her political ends”. Advani, while showcasing the Narendra Modi brand of governance to reap rich dividends at the hustings, in an obvious reference to Sonia Gandhi, said if some parties in India wished to be guided by foreign born ideologies and foreign born leadership then they will certainly realise the limitations of doing so. He advocated Swadeshi agenda and took up the issue of Ramsetu. The BJP, which concluded its three-day conclave today, said the UPA was a motley cluster of political parties committed to vote bank politics and unconcerned about the threats and challenges facing the nation. The UPA’s model of governance is repugnant to parliamentary democracy. The Prime Minister is a non-leader he is at best only a Chief Executive Officer, executing day-to-day governance on behalf of the extra-constitutional centre of power.
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Haqeeqat
Maha-rally
Jhansi, January 29 Virtually launching her party’s Lok Sabha campaign at the Government Inter College grounds, BSP national president Mayawati turned Bundelkhand into her main election plank to prove that she meant business while the Congress and other parties had kept the region backward for years. Not mincing words to censure the Congress party for neglecting the region during its 38 years of rule in the state as well as its continuing presence in the Centre, the BSP supremo dramatically asked the crowd to demand an explanation from the Congress for the backwardness of the region. She clearly hinted at Rahul Gandhi’s 16-17 January visit to the area during which he had held a rally, where he expressed his anguish at the condition of the people and had asked Mayawati to personally visit the area. Making fun of what she described as the “Yuvraj’s effort at wooing Dalits by spending a night in their house and breaking bread with them in his constituency of Amethi” Mayawati warned the electorate not to fall prey to “such play-acting” and expected them to completely wipe out the “mass-base of the Congress from the state”. Referring to the Assembly results, she said the Congress had become nervous at its mass base shifting to the BSP. “That is why it is desperate and has refused me the SPG cover. The Congress may even join hands with other opposition parties to kill me. If such a political conspiracy succeeds do not let them take political advantage. Take revenge with compound interest”, she urged the cheering crowd. Mayawati for almost an hour illustrated how each successive government in the state and the Centre had neglected the region and the manner in which the Congress-led UPA government was not responding to the repeated requests of her government for financial assistance for the development of the area. Promising a separate Bundelkhand state as soon as her government gained power in the Centre, Mayawati said after that the region would not be begging anyone for its development. “Granting statehood was indeed the prerogative of the central government. The Congress was dilly dallying a decision by putting the matter in the state government’s court”, she alleged. Running down the UPA government’s much-flaunted National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), Mayawati stated that the beneficiaries should not be considered to be “beggars, who were expected to swallow their pride and work for Rs 100 for 100 days a year”. Vowing to abolish the NREGP, Mayawati said instead each eligible person “would be given full time permanent employment, which was their basic right as a citizen and would in the process raise their self esteem”. Denying reports of starvation deaths in the region or in fact anywhere in the state, she said her government was closely monitoring development work. “I have asked the chief secretary to personally monitor the region every 10th day, I would send my ministers and even keep coming if need be”. She announced a bouquet of welfare schemes for the region ranging from training of one person of each family so as to a job of Rs 25,000 to 30,000 annually. She announced a plan to set up Rs 100-crore Agricultural University dedicated to carry out research for rain- fed agriculture widely practiced in the area. She has also promised subsidy for buying equipment for water-saving irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkle irrigation. A budget of Rs 404 crore was being set aside for a medical college at Banda, paramedical college at Jhansi, 5 polytechnics and 9 ITI institutes across the region. Countering an expected move of the Congress by dispatching Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the area in the near future to announce some central schemes for the region, Mayawati asked the people not to fall prey to such machinations “as in any case the Congress rarely kept its promises, she commented.
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BJP wants SAD to give up claim on Jalandhar LS seat
New Delhi, January 29 Punjab BJP chief Rajinder Bhandari said here the party wanted to contest from Jalandhar in addition to Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshairpur. The BJP won these three seats in the last Lok Sabha polls. Bhandari, who was in the capital along with other senior Punjab BJP leaders to attend the meeting of BJP’s national council, said the SAD did not have a “regular candidate” from Jalandhar and the BJP was keen to contest for the seat. The Congress had won the seat in the last two Lok Sabha elections. Bhandari said though the BJP would try to convince SAD to give the seat to the party, it would not become an issue between the two parties. The Punjab BJP chief said the party had decided to go in an election mode for the next Lok Sabha polls. He said election management committees would be formed for the polls, which are scheduled for 2009, and the party would build on the atmosphere created by its victories in Assembly polls last year. He said the SAD-BJP combine had won the corporation elections following its victory in the Assembly polls and was confident of a winning all the Lok Sabha seats in the state. Replying to queries, Bhandari, who was accompanied by Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Tikshan Sood, said the state had received maximum assistance from the Centre during the NDA government and its return at the Centre would help in the state progressing faster. Answering a query, Kalia said consumers in urban areas would not suffer extra burden on account of power tariff. He said the coalition government was working with full coordination and airing of difference of opinion on some issues should not be seen as a sign of problems cropping up. He said the government would make the state self-sufficient in power in the next four years. A major thrust was being given to the infrastructure in 44 towns of the state under the scheme for Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns. He said the previous government had left a debt of Rs 53,000 crore and the government was making all efforts to improve the state’s fiscal condition.
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3 BSP MPs disqualified
New Delhi, January 29 The MPs are Bhalchandra Yadav, Ramakant Yadav and Mohammad Shahid Akhlaque. Their seats in the House have been declared vacant. Chatterjee took this decision following a petition by the BSP seeking disqualification of the three MPs on the ground that they had “voluntarily” given up their party membership and joined the SP in 2006. The matter was referred to the Privileges Committee, headed by Kishore Chander Deo, which gave its findings after enquiring into the complaint. The Speaker also had a separate hearing with the MPs. Upholding the findings of the Privileges Committee report, the Speaker issued three separate orders, saying his decision was based on material produced by the petitioner and the reply given by the MPs in their affidavits and during personal hearings that they had “voluntarily” given up their membership of the party on which they were elected. Chatterjee also upheld the BSP’s contention, which had produced newspaper clippings and a video clip in one case, to prove that certain speeches and utterances made by the three MPs in favour of SP amounted to their voluntarily giving up their membership of the BSP. He quoted extensively from the judgements of the Supreme Court in a number of cases and the reports submitted by the Privileges Committee in these matters. The Speaker is yet to take a decision on the petitions filed by the Congress and the Samajwadi Party seeking disqualification of Kuldeep Bishnoi and Beni Prasad Varma. This is the third major disqualification by the Lok Sabha Speaker after the 1985 anti-defection law came into effect. The first case was in 1991 when eight MPs were disqualified by the then Speaker Rabi Ray for having sided with the late Chandrashekhar who had split the Janata Dal and formed a government after the fall of the V.P Singh government. The second instance was that of four MPs belonging to the Ajit Singh faction of the Janata Dal who were disqualified by the then Speaker Shivraj V Patil who had rescued the minority P.V Narasimha Rao government in 1993.
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Karunanidhi plans action against pro-LTTE parties
Chennai, January 29 With the opposition and the Congress voicing their protests in the state Assembly today about the pro-LTTE parties like the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Kathci (Liberation Panthers Party) holding meetings, praising the chief of the banned LTTE V. Prabhakaran, Karunanidhi assured that his government would not hesitate to take legal action against those violating the law. He said, “Whoever be it, if there is a violation of law, this government will not hesitate to act against them. However, we have to consider the apex court’s opinion in this regard before taking any action. My government is also ready to take the opinion of competent legal experts to frame a fresh law to deal with the situation prevailing in Tamil Nadu.” In this regard, the Chief Minister pointed out that the Supreme Court in its order regarding the POTA case (under which MDMK chief Vaiko was jailed) had stated that mere verbal support to a banned organisation did not amount to an offence. However, he could not pacify the AIADMK, which staged a walkout, and to his utter surprise the ruling DMK’s closest ally, the Congress too walked out in protest as they did not seem to buy his explanation. The AIADMK and the Congress legislators demanded that the state government immediately arrest VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, who had recently demanded the ban on the LTTE to be lifted. Karunanidhi reiterated that he had already spelt out his stand on the LTTE many times and analysed the situation before and after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Trying to assuage the feelings of Congress MLAs he said, “It is my duty to inform Congress members categorically that there is no change in my stand.” He admitted that his government was in a spot over this issue as the DMK-led DPA was divided over the LTTE issue. But he said just because some of his allies voiced their support for the banned outfit did not mean that his government was conniving with it. Karunanidhi advised Thirumavalavan to be cautious in future and said, “It is good for them, and it is also good for us, if such reports about pro-LTTE views do not come out of the meetings they organise. I am not saying this to save my government, but only because all of us should be together in ensuring peace in the state.” After the walkout by Congress MLAs, the party whip in the Assembly Peter Alphonse said, “We cannot tolerate any support to the banned LTTE which was engaged in the assassination of our beloved leader Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE is spreading arms culture in the state which is a threat to the internal and national security. We want the government to take strict action against those supporting the banned organisation.”
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TN parties seek take-over of Lankan island
Chennai, January 29 The Katchatheevu island, which originally belonged to India, fell within Sri Lankan territorial waters when the maritime boundary was redrawn in 1974 following an agreement between the then prime ministers of the two countries. Agitated legislators belonging to the opposition AIADMK, MDMK and even ruling DMK’s allies, Congress, CPI and CPI(M) said Sri Lanka was violating the agreement as it also bestowed fishing rights to Indians near the Katchatheevu island, which is one of the 12 islands between India and the island nation. They said the Sri Lankan Navy had arrested a large number of fishermen from the area who were languishing in Lankan prisons. They urged the state government to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan High Commission here. Electricity minister Arcot N. Veerasamy assured the MLAs that steps were being taken for the early release of 12 fishermen belonging to Rameswaram. He said he and chief minister M. Karunanidhi had already spoken to union minister of state for external affairs E. Ahmed, who had promised to take up the issue with his Sri Lankan counterpart. Veerasamy said, “We have urged the union minister to take immediate steps for the release of fishermen as there are reports that the Lankan government wanted the fishermen to be in prison till February 10 when the case comes up for hearing in the local court.” He said the Centre should also look into the issue regarding the violations of rights bestowed on Tamil Nadu fishermen in the agreement signed between both the governments while handing over Katchatheevu to the neighbouring country.
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Enthralling melodies permeate the air
New Delhi, January 29 The hymn is a permanent fixture in the repertoire at Beating the Retreat, an unforgettable ceremony portraying the rich heritage of military customs and traditions, held three days after Republic day at Vijay
Chowk, in shadow of the hill. This year’s ceremony, made more distinctive by being the first to have a woman head of state presiding, comprised over 500 musicians from 29 armed forces bands - 12 brass bands and 15 pipes and drums bands of the Army and a band apiece from the Navy and the Air Force - apart from buglers. The display featured an endearing melange of rousing quick marches, soulful slow marches, and the spirited keening of the pipes - redolent of the glens and lochs of the Scottish Highlands as well as the equally rich musical traditions of India’s own hill and desert dwellers - by the military bandsmen, resplendent in their scarlet tunics, save the green-adorned representatives of the Rifle Regiments. Though this year’s ceremony featured no new compositions, it was the old familiar tunes of yesteryears’ Beating the Retreats that enthralled and entertained the audience.
— UNI
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Gandhi Sells
New Delhi, January 29 As the world on Wednesday marks his 60th death anniversary and remembers the man who lived and died for his mantra of nonviolence, hundreds of thousands of people are still buying his autobiography to try and get an understanding of the man who went from becoming Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to simply the Mahatma - or the great soul. “Love for Gandhi and his ideology has not faded even 60 years after his death. Every year we sell about 2 lakh copies of his autobiography,” said Jitendra Desai, managing trustee of the Navajivan Trust, copyright owner of all his works. “His autobiography was a bestseller, is a bestseller and will be a bestseller in the coming years,” Desai said. Interestingly, Kerala accounts for nearly half of all the copies sold in India. “Nearly 1 lakh copies are sold only in Kerala every year, followed by Tamil Nadu. The credit goes to the high literacy rate as compared to north Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar,” added Desai. The first edition of Gandhi’s autobiography was rolled out by the trust in 1927 in Gujarati. It is now available in Assamese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Oriya, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Urdu and Punjabi. Indian language versions of the 452-page work are offered at Rs 30. The hardbound version costs Rs 120. The book is widely sold across the globe as well with various publishing houses possessing copyrights. China and Russia are among the exceptions, Desai said. Given the enormous popularity of Gandhi’s autobiography, it is evident that the youth are following Gandhism more than perhaps their elders did, say experts.
— IANS
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Gandhi’s last words not ‘hey Ram’: Book
Lucknow, January 29 Its author Dayashankar Shukla “Sagar”, a journalist with a well-known Hindi daily here, questions the widely held belief and contends that the Mahatma’s grand-daughter Manu only heard him utter: “hey Ra...”. He goes on to claim that Godse had also said Gandhi had uttered “aah...” and not “hey Ram” when he shot him on January 30, 1948. The author dwells in detail about the “experiments” by Gandhi with “bramhacharya” (celibacy) and says these and the controversies arising from them had “an effect on Gandhi’s views on the freedom struggle”. “With his experiments on celibacy, Gandhi had opened a new front in addition to the objective of freedom which was unnecessary,” the book says. — PTI
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Centre for more credit to rural poor
New Delhi, January 29 Inaugurating the annual social sector editors’ conference, he said the revised national rehabilitation and resettlement policy, formulated by the UPA government, would go a long way in alleviating suffering of people displaced by the acquisition of land and preventing incidents like
Nandigram. He said the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend various provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, with a view to strike a balance between the need of land development and protecting the interests of persons whose lands were acquired. He said the Bills, which being examined by the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Rural development, are likely to be passed in the budget session. On the government’s expansion plan for micro-financing through self-help groups, he said the proposed micro-finance Bill would easily make available financial assistance to targeted groups covered under the Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana. The minister said the government was considering making available old-age pension to the poor from 60 years instead of the
present 65. He said the government was considering expanding the ambit of the scheme and an announcement could be made soon. The minister stressed upon the need of transparency and accountability in the implementing rural development
programmes.
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Pardon to Convicts
New Delhi, January 29 A Bench, comprising Justices H.K. Sema and Markandey Katju, sounded a note of caution to the authorities while dismissing a bunch of PILs, praying to the apex court to lay down some uniform guidelines for premature release of those serving life imprisonment or facing death sentences. The petitioners had pleaded that some states like Haryana have been releasing convicts for dubious considerations and not for their outstanding conduct and behaviour in jail. The administration can order premature release of a prisoner, subject to certain conditions. One of the petitioners, Anil Kumar Sharma, had alleged favouritism against the then Om Prakash Chautala government in Haryana for releasing hardened criminals on the eve of Assembly elections in the state. According to the petitioners, states have been misusing these powers for political considerations The apex court, however, dismissed the petition after sounding a note of caution to the authorities that included the President and the state Governors, who have powers to grant pardon.
Sex determination
test case
The apex court on Tuesday decided to examine on February 15 a plea seeking to block a US-based website, offering a medical kit to determine the gender of the foetus by testing the blood of the pregnant mother. The Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, an NGO, apprised a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal of the existence of the website hosted by a Massachusetts-based firm. Pre-natal gender determination is banned in India. The association has sought directions to the central government for strict implementation of the PNDT
Act. — Agencies
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Nod to 4,000-cr US aircraft deal
New Delhi, January 29 The deal is expected to be signed by the mid-year. This would be the biggest arms deal between the two countries. Defence minister A.K. Antony said on the sidelines of a seminar here today that “the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has cleared the deal”. The clearance for the deal comes a month ahead of the first-ever visit to India by new US defence secretary Robert Gates on February 25. This will be the third major arms deal with the US. Recently India purchased 45,000 tonne displacement USS Trenton, a shiplanding dock, now rechristened INS Jalashva for about $500 million. The US and Indian governments are now working to conclude details of an industrial cooperation package estimated at about 20 per cent of the contract value. The C130J is the newest generation of the C-130 Hercules which primarily performs the tactical portion of the airlift mission. The aircraft is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. The C-130 fulfils a wide range of operational missions in both peace and war situations. This is first time since 1962 war with China that Indian Air Force will sport an American aircraft in its armoury.
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Kolkata, January 29 Samples from Alunda village in Suri block-1 tested positive during the day and in Nadia district, where culling has been completed, it spread to Kalyani, official sources in the districts said. Animal resources development minister Anisur Rahaman said over 4,000 chickens died at Baduria in North 24 Parganas district, adjacent to Kolkata, and their samples had been sent to Bhopal for test in the laboratory. He said slaughter of birds had been ordered in a 5-km radius of the areas affected by the disease afresh. In Nadia district, it spread to Harijan pally Ward number 2 in Kalyani. Culling would begin from tomorrow, he said. A total of 25 lakh chickens had been culled, Rahaman said. “The target may be a little higher considering the fresh outbreak but we have asked the districts to complete culling by tomorrow,” Rahaman said. The state government also sought information from Bangladesh on the strains of the avian influenza to source the origin of the viral infection. Bird flu, he said, was prevalent in Egypt, Indonesia and Bangladesh and India had been infected “by probably from one of its neighbours”. — PTI
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Viswanath releases autobiography
The book has generated controversy due to the linking of the name of former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna with Kannada cinestar B. Sarojadevi Bangalore, January 29 Viswanath, who was thwarted from releasing the autobiography by supporters of former Chief Minister and Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna at Mysore yesterday during which noted litterateur U.R. Ananthamurthy was also roughed up, released the book today amidst heavy security at the Pathrakarthara Bhavan in Mysore. Prof H. Govindaiah, a Congress leader and close to former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, did the honours in the absence of Dr Ananthamurthy. The book’s writer Viswanath while speaking on the occasion said the book was about his personal life and denied accusations that former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his son H.D. Kumaraswamy were behind its publication. In the book Viswanath recounts an encounter with Krishna while travelling in a car with the latter during which Krishna asks him what people will think about Sarojadevi’s candidature from Mandya Lok Sabha seat. Viswanath claims he told Krishna that people were saying that he would not “forget his old numbers” and that he would give the ticket to Sarojadevi for sure. Krishna is said to have laughed heartily and said: “Look Viswanath, we should not forget anyone. Is it not?” Ananthamurthy has rebuked Viswanath for stating certain facts about Krishna’s private life “innocently”.
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Veteran RSP leader Baby John dead
Kollam (Kerala), January 29 John (88) had been confined to home for the last 10 years after his eventful and active career came to an abrupt end when he suffered a stroke while being a member of the E K Nayanar Cabinet in 1997. His condition worsened a few days back and was under treatment in a church-run hospital for pneumonia. He is survived by his wife Annamma, two sons and a daughter. A former all-India general secretary of the RSP, John was a 11-time legislator and seven-time minister handling a variety of portfolios like revenue,
education, fisheries and labour in the ministries of different political
combinations. Shrewdness and skill of John had often been found handy by leaders from bigger parties than his own the RSP to defuse several crises faced by the coalitions in which he was part of in the 1970 and 80s. A brilliant administrator, John had served in the ministries led by CPI stalwart late C. Achutha Menon as well as under K. Karunakaran, E.K. Nayanar, A.K. Antony and P.K. Vasudevan Nair at different points of time. Lean, tall and clad in pristine white kurta and dhoti, John’s had been an iconic image ingrained in Kerala’s political memory for the varied roles he played in public life.
— PTI
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Malayalam actor Gopi dead
Thiruvananthapuram, January 29 Gopi suffered a heart attack last week at a shooting location in Alappuzha. Making his debut in a minor role in Adoor Gopalakrishnan “Swayamvaram”, Gopi made it big with his lead role in the director’s next film “Kodiyettam”, which earned him the Bharat award for best actor. He was the second artiste to win the honour in Malayalam after P.J. Antony for his performance in M. T. Vasudevan Nair’s “Nirmalyam”.
— PTI
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SC rejects armed assaulters’ self-defence plea
New Delhi, January 29 Such an act of aggression cannot by any stretch of imagination be claimed as a person’s right of self-defence, a Bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and Dalveer Bhandari observed, quashing the findings of the Rajasthan High Court and a sessions court. The two courts had given the findings that Kashi Ram and four others acted in self-defence despite evidence indicating that the accused armed with deadly weapons entered the fields owned by Balu Singh and killed him besides inflicting injuries on two others. — PTI
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Clooney visits Delhi as UN peacekeeping messenger New Delhi, January 29 Clooney is visiting India as part of his new role as a UN messenger of peace, with special emphasis on peacekeeping. Incidentally, his latest Hollywood entertainer “Michael Clayton” is among the films in the running for the “best film” category at the Oscars this year. Lute and Clooney have come to India from Africa, where they saw Indian blue helmets in action in Congo. Later a statement issued by the ministry of defence said Lute appreciated the role played by Indian peacekeepers around the world and hoped that India would take part in the Contingent Owned Equipment Manual Review Exercise to be held in New York from February 4-22. Vijay Singh in turn assured the American guests that India would send a high-level team to the New York meeting at both the technical and working levels. The two visitors were also given an overview of the experiences of the just returned Indian contingent of peacekeepers, especially relating to logistics and operations. The Army headquarters also gave a presentation on various “commandments” given to the Indian peacekeepers such as respect for the cultural ethos of the country where they are deployed and zero tolerance for human rights violations.
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New Delhi, January 29 “Taslima Nasreen was brought to our hospital on January 26 night. She was admitted after initial investigation found that she was suffering from suspected drug effect,” Y.K. Gupta, chief spokesperson of AIIMS, told IANS. “We are carrying out a number of tests on her. At this stage, we cannot reveal anything more on the drug effect angle. It could be the side effect of some drug as well,” Gupta added. He said, the 45-year-old author was also “complaining of uneasiness and hyper tension”. — IANS
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