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Tamil Nadu police firing toll rises to 7; probe ordered
Cash-for-vote: Order on Amar’s interim bail plea today
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Jethmalani points finger at BJP, changes his mind later
SC ruling has vindicated our stand: BJP
No consensus on Advani’s rath yatra yet
News Analysis
Hit by staff crunch, MEA to open doors to interns
23 thalassaemic kids test HIV+ in Gujarat, govt orders probe
SC orders CBI probe into Banda rape case
Justice Khehar, 2 others elevated to Supreme Court
Police grills relatives of surrendered militants
Azhar’s son continues to be ‘very critical’
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Tamil Nadu police firing toll rises to 7; probe ordered
Ramanathapuram/Chennai, September 12 “The situation in most parts of the district is peaceful... a holiday has been declared for all educational institutions in the district,” said Collector N Arun Roy. The prohibitory orders are still in force, he added. With two more persons succumbing to their injuries at a hospital late last night, the toll in the firing has risen to seven. In Chennai, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa told the state Assembly that a retired High Court Judge would probe the firing incident which, she indicated, could have been the culmination of communal tension. “Some of you (Opposition members) who spoke here said it was not communal violence. If it be so, we are also happy. But the fact is that derogatory remarks were written on a wall in Mandalamanickam pacheri village (Ramanathapuram district) against Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar (a highly respected nationalist leader),” she said. “Following this a Class XI student, Palanikumar, from the village was killed on September 9. Then (Dalit leader) John Pandian leaves (to pay homage on the death anniversary of Dalit leader Imanuel Sekaran) and violence breaks out. Therefore, all these incidents have happened in an inter-connected chain-like fashion," she said. In the wake of the boy’s killing, Ramanathapuram Collector had banned the entry of Pandian into the district as the situation there was tense, Jayalalithaa said, adding that despite that Pandian proceeded towards Paramakudi, following which he was arrested at Tuticorin. Thirty buses and 15 police vehicles were damaged in the violence which broke out yesterday after news spread that Pandian had been arrested en route to Paramakudi to pay homage to Sekaran on his death anniversary. The police burst teargas shells before firing at the stone-throwing crowd. Several police officials, including DIG Sandeep Mittal, were injured when they were pelted with stones. The police also fired to quell violence in Madurai in which two persons were injured. As many as 57 persons were arrested in Tirumangalam and more than 50 in Paramakudi for indulging in violence, the police said. Jayalalithaa had defended the police action yesterday, saying the police was forced to open fire as the protesters had attacked police personnel on duty. She also blamed some people for instigating violence “for their own political gains”. “The protesters indulged in large-scale violence and torched police vehicles. The police opened fire in self-defence and to protect public property,” said Jayalalithaa, who announced Rs 1 lakh compensation to the next of kin of those killed.
— PTI
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Cash-for-vote: Order on Amar’s interim bail plea today
After hearing the argument made by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani in defence of Singh, Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal reserved her order. "Put up (the application) for order tomorrow," the court directed as Jethmalani and Public Prosecutor Rajeev Mohan concluded their arguments. While Jethmalani plead bail for Singh on his health grounds and said that police has nothing ‘substantial’ against his client, Delhi police opposed the argument saying that it has circumstantial evidence against him. The Tihar Jail authorities had earlier submitted to the court the medical report on Singh's health, saying the results of some of the tests were still awaited and that they would be available only by tomorrow. Singh was sent to judicial custody on September 6 following which he had filed an interim bail plea on health grounds. Presenting his case before the judge, Jethmalani said that Singh had undergone kidney transplant recently and that he was also suffering from urinary tract infection. “This suggests that he is a sick and infirm person," said he. Arguing that there is no allegation against Singh that he arranged or gave money to anybody in the alleged offence, Jethmalani said the case is about a sting operation carried out by a private TV news channel. "The sting was for the purpose of exposing corruption. Did Singh give money to these BJP MPs? What has Amar Singh done in this? I am unable to find what he has done?" argued Jethmalani adding that even the charge sheet filed by Delhi police does not say that his client gave the money. He also referred to senior BJP leader L K Advani's statement in Parliament, hailing as "whistle-blowers" along with two former party MPs who have been also been arrested in the case. He said former BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahabir Singh Bhagora, besides sitting BJP MP Ashok Argal have not done "anything wrong" by waving money on the floor of the Parliament during the confidence motion. The case relates to July 22, 2008 when three BJP MPs - Kulaste, Bhagora and incumbent Ashok Argal - waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote, alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government during the no-confidence motion. Amar Singh admitted to AIIMS New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh was admitted to AIIMS on Monday night following a rise in his keratin levels, Tihar Jail spokesman Sunil Gupta said. Singh (55) was admitted in the private ward of AIIMS at around 8pm. “Since his keratin level was high, we decided to shift him to AIIMS,” he added. — PTI
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Jethmalani points finger at BJP, changes his mind later
New Delhi, September 12 Seeking interim bail for former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, the senior advocate said the money which he had allegedly delivered to the MPs, had been received by him from the BJP's treasurer. "If the money was waved (in Lok Sabha) by the BJP MPs, then the source of money is likely to be from the BJP. I am not prejudicing anybody's case. There is no allegation that Amar Singh arranged the money," Jethmalani said. Jethmalani's arguments in seeking Amar Singh's bail on health grounds are contrary to stand of BJP, which has been asking Congress-led UPA as to source of the money. Jethmalani later denied accusing BJP in cash-for-vote, accusing media of misreporting. "I have not done anything of that kind. You people are spreading (wrong reports) all the time," he said on the sidelines of a function. "I merely said that there was no evidence that Amar Singh gave this money...read the chargesheet...it doesn't say that Amar Singh has given this money. Amar Singh has not arranged the sting operation either," he added. Talking to reporters outside the court, Jethmalani reportedly said, "There are no allegations in the chargesheet that he (Amar Singh) has given
the money. — PTI
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SC ruling has vindicated our stand: BJP
New Delhi, September 12 BJP leaders in different parts of the nation broke into wild jubilation with every leader registering his joy at the “great relief” provided by the apex court to the Gujarat Chief Minister, with some of them even hoping that this would clear the way for Modi to lead them at the Centre as well. But the Congress and the CPM dismissed the BJP presumption that the apex court had given any clean chit to Modi. Modi did not waste time either. Immediately after the court decision, he came out in public, drove around in an open vehicle and greeted his ecstatic supporters. BJP senior leader L K Advani in Mumbai described the court orders as “a great relief to the BJP and to those who believe in the good administration of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.” “I have not seen any political person maligned the way Narendrabhai has been. In the political history of India, there hasn't been such misinformation propaganda against any other political leader.” Advani described Modi as an outstanding leader of the BJP, capable of discharging every responsibility assigned by the party and said it was “good that the Supreme Court did not accept or subscribe to the misinformation campaign against Modi. Good governance and honest administration provided by the Modi government in Gujarat is rarely seen in any state or country.” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley hailed the Supreme Court decision in the same spirit, saying there was not a shred of evidence of involvement of Modi in the riots and the SC verdict had vindicated the BJP stand. “The BJP has throughout maintained that allegations against Narendra Modi are totally false and there is no shred of evidence against him to connect him with the unfortunate riots,” Jaitley said here. Putting up a brave face, the Congress party debunked the BJP “self congratulatory” brouhaha as “misleading” and “distorted version”. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, “It is wrong to say that the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to Modi. The apex court has referred the matter to the lower court for hearing and after a decision by the lower court, its doors will still be open for aggrieved persons,” he said. Terming BJP’s excitement a “knee-jerk reaction” of an “irresponsible political party”, he said the case was open before the magistrate. “The BJP has always had unhealthy disregard for accuracy. The self-congratulatory, misleading and distorted version can hardly be called the responsible reaction of a responsible political party.” The CPM Politburo too dismissed the BJP claims of the apex court exonerating Modi in the Ehsan Jafri trial. Its statement said, “The Supreme Court has directed the trial court to look at the various reports, including the SIT report as well as affidavits containing damning evidence against the Chief Minister’s role. This can by no means be considered exoneration of the Chief Minister’s role as is being claimed by Modi and his party.
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No consensus on Advani’s rath yatra yet
New Delhi, September 12 Advani summoned BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, as also BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar and Bal Apte to his home for a breakfast meeting. Sources said the members discussed various possibilities. Some suggested the yatra should commence on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary (October 2), others suggested breaking it into phases with Dussehra and Diwali breaks. Though no clear route plan was finalised, sources said Advani could travel on his “rath” anywhere between 600 to 6,000 km, depending on logistics. There was also a discussion whether the theme should be “good governance and clean politics”, as Advani contemplated, or corruption, as Gadkari suggested, but no clear view could emerge at the meeting. There was also no agreement on whether Advani should skip the BJP-ruled election-bound states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and instead spread the message in UPA-ruled states or his yatra should be utilised to bolster the party prospects in BJP-ruled poll-bound states. The opinion on the issue was equally divided. Soon thereafter, Gadkari held a meeting of party office-bearers at his house where he announced Ananth Kumar the convener of the yatra and left to him to work out and announce all details. Then he moved on to other issues like corruption, government arrogance and indifference, the government attempt to project BJP whistle-blower MPs in cash-for-votes scam as bribe-takers. Party sources did not mention anything about the general secretaries’ meeting that was also scheduled for the today. Gadkari made no mention of the proposed yatra. He only talked about UPA government’s credibility hitting rock bottom; its inability to control spiralling prices; being soft on terror; and its alleged failure to read the popular mood on corruption. The BJP president, accompanied by Jaitley and Sushma, touched on almost all current issues, including the Communal Violence Bill, the cash-for-votes issue and even the Prime Minister’s visit to Bangladesh, but not a word on Advani’s rath
yatra.
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News Analysis
New Delhi, September 12 If the Supreme Court’s order is to be seen through a purely techno-legal prism, the Congress has a point when it stated today that Modi had not been exonerated as the petition filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, had been referred to the trial court. The apex court has directed the trial court to consider the various reports prepared by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the amicus curiae and has also said that before deciding on the Zakia Jafri’s petition, she should be given an opportunity to be heard. But the SC order has immense political implications. It has allowed the BJP to claim victory on the grounds that the apex court had found no evidence to connect Modi to the 2002 riots. On the other hand, it has denied the Congress an opportunity to question the BJP and its poster boy Modi’s secular credentials. It has also come at a time when nothing seems to be going right for the Congress. Unable to shake off the taint of corruption and poor governance, it is struggling to come up with an effective political response to the challenges posed by a resurgent BJP and social activist Anna Hazare’s aggressive campaign against the Congress-led government. “It is definitely a setback for the Congress. Today’s political message is that the case has gone in Modi’s favour and that his stand has been vindicated,” remarked a senior Congress functionary, admitting that the Gujarat party unit will face an uphill task in its battle against an emboldened Modi. Congress leaders said the impact of the apex court’s order will not be confined to Gujarat alone. The controversial Chief Minister was constrained from playing a larger political role outside the state as long as cases were pending against him in the the Supreme Court. Worried about a possible public backlash, the BJP’s central leadership had been wary of projecting him on the national scene. The BJP’s allies like the Janata Dal (U) have never been comfortable with Modi’s “anti-minorities” image. This was evident during the last Bihar Assembly poll when its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had literally barred him from campaigning in the state for fear of an erosion in the Muslim vote. The BJP believes that these constraints have now been removed as today’s development has strengthened both Modi and the party’s image. It comes at a time when BJP patriarch LK Advani is planning a nationwide rath yatra against corruption. Modi’s perceived victory will not only give this campaign an added impetus but it will also galvanise party workers and generate a momentum in BJP’s favour.
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Orissa steps up flood relief efforts
Bhubaneswar, September 12 An estimated 14 lakh people from over 2,600 villages have been affected by the floods which have left 16 dead, while rescuers evacuated over one lakh marooned people and sheltered them at safer places, official sources said. Stepping up relief operation, the state government air-dropped food and other essentials with the help of three choppers. Following halt in rains in the upper catchment area and reduced inflow, water level in Hirakud reservoir dropped marginally to 628.5 feet from more than 629.3 feet recorded yesterday, the sources said. As a result, only 23 sluice gates of the Hirakud Dam were kept open to maintain balance. Both the inflow and outflow of water in the reservoir was maintained at 4,00,840 cusec, they said. Though water started receding in the submerged areas of Sambalpur, Sonepur, Boudh and Bargarh districts, floods in the entire Mahanadi river system in the delta region continued to play havoc as over 1,000 villages were completely cut off from the rest of the world, they said. Water level at many places, including Naraj, Jobra, Alipingala and Daleighai, remained above the danger mark. Discharge of water into the sea may become difficult due to high tide on the account of full moon day today, said a senior official of the water resources department. — PTI
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Hit by staff crunch, MEA to open doors to interns
New Delhi, September 12 “The internship programme will provide an opportunity to officers of the ministry to interact with young thinking minds with brilliant academic record from reputed institutions,” sources in the ministry said. “Ideas from budding scholars will prove to be of importance to practitioners of diplomacy in the ministry,” they added. “At the same time, it will provide the interns with
an excellent opportunity to familiarise themselves with the process of foreign
policy formulation in the Government of India,” they further stated. The programme, valid for a maximum period of six months, will be open to all Indian citizens with at least a degree in humanities. The interns will be attached to a territorial division of the ministry and will be required
to present a report or paper at the end of their internship to the Head of Division. Interns will be carefully
scrutinised by a selection committee and accepted after a security clearance. With India’s economic and political clout growing rapidly, responsibilities of Indian diplomats have increased considerably in recent years. The strength of Indian diplomats, it is learnt, is far too short of the requirement for shouldering of the responsibilities the world over. Currently, India is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, but the strength of the Permanent Mission of India in New York has remained almost static. Even at the headquarters in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs faces a serious manpower crunch. Currently, India has nearly 600 diplomats posted in more than 100 missions across the world and at the headquarters in New Delhi. Two years ago, the Union Cabinet had approved creation of 30 new posts every year over the next decade. The young interns are expected to provide the much-needed logistics and research support in areas like climate change and energy security.
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23 thalassaemic kids test HIV+ in Gujarat, govt orders probe
Junagadh/Ahmedabad, Sept 12 "Twenty three children have tested positive for HIV in the Junagadh Civil Hospital. Over 50 per cent of the children were taking blood transfusion from multiple sources," Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said, citing a report of the tests conducted on the children three days ago. "The pre-blood transfusion test conducted on them shows that they were infected prior to admission in the Junagadh Civil Hospital," he said. The children suffering from thalassaemia visit the hospital from various towns of the district to avail the facility of blood transfusion, which is offered twice a week free of cost. "A probe has begun. The blood collected both from the blood bank and donors has been sent for testing," Junagadh Civil Hospital Superintendent GT Dayalu said. "Patients might have been HIV positive even before coming here for blood transfusion," he said. The children might have been transfused HIV-infected blood without conducting a proper test, a senior doctor of the hospital claimed. The Gujarat government has also launched an inquiry into how the children contracted the virus. Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder, in which body makes an abnormal form of haemoglobin and there is excessive destruction of red blood cells leading to anaemia.
— PTI
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IAF Group Captain held over suicide of sacked woman officer Bhopal, September 12 The body of Anjali was found hanging from the ceiling fan in the house of Amit Gupta (51) on Sunday night in Bhopal. A resident of Delhi, Anjali was working in a private firm in Bangalore. On way to Bangalore, she had stopped over at Bhopal to meet Amit on September 7. "Parents of Anjali Gupta have alleged Amit had promised Anjali marriage since long and on his refusal, she committed suicide," Rajesh Bhadoria, the City Superintendent of Police, told reporters. Bhadoria added, "The family alleged Amit had always convinced Anjali he’d divorce his wife and marry her. According to them, Anjali had visited Amit's home several times." — IANS
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SC orders CBI probe into Banda rape case
New Delhi, September 12 Instead of treating her as a victim under the Juvenile Justice Act and proceeding against Dwivedi, police and judiciary had put her behind the bars on false charges of theft, the petition said. While victims from the weaker sections were being subjected to this kind of treatment, those belonging to the middle class had to struggle for several years to get justice which was evident from the cases of Ruchika Girhotra, Jessical Lal and Priyadarshi Mattoo, the petitioner argued. The apex court should intervene and discharge its duty as the “saviour of civil rights” guaranteed under the Constitution, he had
pleaded.
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Justice Khehar, 2 others elevated to Supreme Court
New Delhi, September 12 Their appointments as SC judges were cleared by President Pratibha Patil yesterday and a formal notification in this regard is expected in a day or two. With their elevation, number of SC judges would rise to 29 against the sanctioned strength of 31, including the Chief Justice. However, four judges are set to retire by October 15. In view of the retirements, apex court Collegium is understood to have recommended the elevation of two more judges - Delhi HC Chief Justice Deepak Misra and Kerala HC Chief Justice J Chelameswar - to the SC. Justice Khehar thus has a chance of becoming the first Sikh to head the SC.
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Police grills relatives of surrendered militants Jammu/New Delhi, Sept 12 The number of people detained for questioning rose to 11 after Sadiq Ahmed and Abid Hussain, considered close to former militants Irshad Ahmed and Farooq Ahmed were picked up. The two former militants have already been detained. The investigators probing the blast were vigorously pursuing the email sent from Kishtwar and believed that the other three emails claiming responsibility for last Wednesday's terror attack, including the one purportedly sent by the Indian Mujahideen(IM), were pranks. "Two close persons of surrendered militants have been picked up. They are under sustained interrogation after zeroing in on them. Let us see what we get. The purported HuJI email has been sent from Kishtwar itself and that is confirmed," a senior police officer said. — PTI
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Azhar’s son continues to be ‘very critical’ Hyderabad, September 12 “Ayazuddin's condition continues to be very critical and the patient is being managed in the ICU on ventilator and BP support,” a medical bulletin issued this evening by the super-specialty hospital where he is being treated said. “Neurological assessments are being performed to assess his brain condition, which could be a major concern. It is suspected that there may be a significant brain dysfunction due to anoxia during the period in which the patient was in a collapsed stage, which can be confirmed only after serial neurological tests,” it said. Ayazuddin sustained grievous injuries while his 16-year-old cousin Ajmal died in yesterday’s motorbike accident. — PTI
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Farmers protest onion export
ban
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New Delhi, September 12
