India votes today
Maoist violence threatens polling
New Delhi, April 15
India will vote today to elect Members of Parliament in as many as 124 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 15 states and 2 Union Territories. The fate of 1,715 candidates will be sealed by Thursday afternoon. A whopping 14.31 crore voters are expected to exercise their right to franchise in the first phase of the election today. The other four phases are slated to be held on April 23 and 30 and May 7 and 13.

Elections in Naxal areas tough for Bihar admn
Patna, April 15
Belying the tall claims of the state administration and the Election Commission that they were fully prepared to conduct elections even in the Naxal strongholds where the ultras have given a call to boycott the polls in Bihar and Jharkhand, around 100-armed extremists owing allegiance to the MCCI attacked a BSF camp located in a government school building at Dhansa under Bihar’s Rohtas district at around midnight on Monday barely 30 hours before the polling was scheduled in that area.

PM ready to break bread with Left
New Delhi, April 15
With poll pundits predicting a hung Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that he was ready to do business again with the Left parties for the formation of a secular government. The Left had withdrawn support to the UPA government in July last year after the ruling coalition decided to go ahead with the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal.

Huge cash seized in run-up to AP polls
Hyderabad, April 15
In a major drive to check influence of money power in elections, the Andhra Pradesh government has, so far, seized cash amounting to Rs 24.20 crore during searches of vehicles across the state. As part of the special drive, launched soon after the announcement of poll schedule last month, the police set up check posts at key locations and started searching vehicles, including the ones carrying campaign materials of political parties.

Corporate bigwigs ready to test poll turf in AP
Hyderabad, April 15
A host of corporate bigwigs are trying their luck on the political turf in the Andhra Pradesh elections. The IT honchos, realtors, promoters of infrastructure majors and educational institutions are among the businessmen who are testing their political fortunes.

‘Defamatory statements’ against Indian Army
Angry PC demands apology from Modi
An aggressive Union Home Minister P Chidambaram took on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi headlong demanding from him an apology for making “defamatory statements” against the Indian Army, which had lost seven soldiers while battling terrorists in Charar-e-Sharief in the Kashmir Valley 14 years ago in May 1995.

Home Minister P Chidambaram shows the Congress manifesto at a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday. — PTI

Seven years later Godhra has moved on
Now, it is just another constituency
The badly burnt coach, S-6, of the Sabarmati Express at one end of the railway yard stands in silent testimony to the horrific carnage of February 27, 2002, when over 50 kar sewaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive.

Bite at ‘Bhajji Da Dhabha’, buy Bhajji products New Delhi, April 15 Harbhajan Singh has been so far taking wickets and powering the Indian cricket team to victories with his spin tricks, and at times, with his batting prowess. But now, Bhajji is all set to spin a different ball game, to cash in on his name "Harbhajan Singh", literally.