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Chhattisgarh CM for united fight against Red terror
NIA to probe attack, says Shinde
Shukla shifted to Gurgaon; VIPs throng hospital
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Maoists danced on finding Karma, says survivor
Crack down on Maoists, say Jharkhand leaders
Deeply shocked, says President
Experts question lack of security
Police custody of Sreesanth, Chandila extended by 2 days
Dalit groom leads marriage party under police protection
Malda infant death toll rises to 14
Naidu hopeful of Third Front resurgence
CBI to probe death of terror accused in Uttar Pradesh
India becomes observer at Arctic Council
Programme for healthcare during disasters launched
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Chhattisgarh CM for united fight against Red terror
Jagdalpur, May 26
— Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
Singh was speaking at the Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital where he met the injured earlier in the morning. The yesterday evening attack was launched by Maoists waiting in ambush in the thickly forested area of Darbha Ghati in southern Bastar, close to the border of Chhattisgarh with Andhra Pradesh. A convoy of Congress leaders was returning to state capital Raipur from a rally when the attack occurred. The state is headed for Assembly elections later this year. The Maoists first set off a land-mine blast and then opened indiscriminate fire. Close to 30 persons, including Mahendra Karma, Congress leader responsible for the founding anti-Maoist force Salwa Judum, died in the attack. State Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh were reported missing after the attack-their bodies were later found, along with those of eight others, in Jiram Valley of Bastar district. The Chief Minister said: “This is not the time for hurling allegations or to engage in a political tug-of-war. This is also not the time to talk about the ruling party or the Opposition, but to unitedly take on ‘Red Terror’ and give them a fitting response for the carnage.” He said the government would extend all possible help to the victims. He later left to pay his condolences to the family of slain leader Mahendra Karma. —
IANS
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Shukla shifted to Gurgaon; VIPs throng hospital
Gurgaon, May 26 Shukla (84) was airlifted to the hospital from Raipur early this morning. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the injured leader soon after their return from Chhattisgarh. The two leaders enquired about Shukla’s health from the hospital staff and his family members. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, BJP leader LK Advani and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were other prominent figures who visited the hospital ICU and extended their support to Shukla’s relatives. “He is critical but stable. Doctors are trying their best and we are praying for him,” said Hooda. “I went to the ICU and all parameters indicate that there is stability in Shukla’s condition. I felt relieved after seeing him. This is one of the most audacious attacks to have taken place in recent times. I spoke to the Prime Minister and requested him to make concerted efforts to combat and overcome this menace,” Advani told mediapersons outside the hospital. The police remained on its toes the entire day managing traffic for VIP movement and providing security. The police is preparing a fresh plan for VIP visits tomorrow.
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NIA to probe attack, says Shinde New Delhi, May 26 “I have spoken to Raman Singh and he has agreed for a probe by the NIA,” Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told the PTI over the phone from New York. Shinde said he had asked Union Home Secretary RK Singh to proceed accordingly in the matter. Shinde said he had briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the decision to hand over the investigation to the NIA. Meanwhile, Umesh Patel, the son of slain state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, has demanded a CBI probe into the incident suspecting political conspiracy behind the tragedy. Umesh claimed the assailants had called out names of senior party leaders indicated that there was some political conspiracy behind the killing of his father and brother. — PTI
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Maoists danced on finding Karma, says survivor
Sukma, May 26 As the insurgents went about shooting two to four bullets into the occupants of the vehicles after they ambushed the convoy at Darbha Ghati, 35 km from Sukma, on Saturday, they started dancing when Karma identified himself and then sprayed him with bullets, said the survivor. As Karma fell, the insurgents stabbed his head with a bayonet. Similarly, the insurgents inquired about Leader of the Opposition Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh. After finding them, they took the two around 100 metres into the woods and shot them. The insurgents, it was learnt, made leaders’ gunmen lie on the ground and shot them in their legs one by one before asking them to run away after taking away their weapons. — IANS
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Crack down on Maoists, say Jharkhand leaders
Ranchi, May 26 “Appeals for a dialogue with them (Maoists) have yielded no results. Now it’s time for action,” Congress leader PN Singh said while condemning the CPI (Maoist) attack on the Congress convoy in neighbouring Chhattisgarh claiming 27 lives. “Mahendra Karma was a close friend of mine ... their (Maoists) cruelty reflected in the gruesome murder of Karma and others,” Singh said. Independent MP and former Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari said, “We can’t deny that somewhere the political system in the country has missed its attention in some areas where development has not reached yet, giving the Maoists a chance to exploit people there.” Pitching strongly for punishing Maoists for such acts, Namdhari said just imagine five or 10 security personnel guarding a leader and facing thousand of Maoists in yesterday’s incident. — PTI
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New Delhi, May 26
“We firmly disapprove of the violence and killings to gain political power in a democratic country,” said CPI national secretary D Raja. Referring to the Salwa Judum movement, he said: “Maoists must not resort to the politics of vendetta and revenge killings.” While offering condolences to the bereaved families, he also appealed to all sections of people to maintain peace. CPM leader Brinda Karat said the BJP government was answerable and responsible for the incident. “The BJP government is certainly answerable and responsible for this attack because there are reports that even the security arrangements that should have been there were not made,” she said. — PTI
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Deeply shocked, says President
New Delhi, May 26 As the Centre sought a detailed report from the Chhattisgarh Government on the attack, Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and senior BJP leader LK Advani called upon everyone to "come together" to combat the Naxal challenge. "I am deeply dismayed and shocked at the wanton violence unleashed by the Maoists. I condemn the incident in the strongest of terms," Mukherjee said.
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Experts question lack of security
New Delhi, May 26 He said the government’s Operation Green Hunt should be re-launched to clear the Maoist-affected areas. “There would be civilian casualties in action, but that would be in good faith,” he added. To control the Maoist menace, there should be a political will. All states affected by Maoist violence should be on the same page with the Central Government, Mishra said. “We need more intelligence inputs and helicopter operations,” he said adding that “it should be probed how the security forces did not clear the road knowing that political leaders were to move from there”. “Ideology is missing among the Maoists. They have become criminals,” he said. The former top BSF official said the Maoists have changed tactics from kidnapping earlier to using IED to kill people now. Ajay Kumar, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) MP from Jamshedpur and a former IPS officer, said: “This was a planned attack on politicians. I fear more of it may follow.” “We need to be aware of ground realities. Law and order is a small part of the problem, actually it is lack of development. States like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have been victims of crony capitalism. Corruption in the government has to be curbed,” he said. Kumar said tribals were very sensitive to alienation with their land resources. MS Bhatia, Inspector General of Police, Ranchi, said: “Never has such an attack been carried out. The security establishment didn’t anticipate it.” Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi said: “Maoists seem to be winning the war. When they attack the president of the principal Opposition party, they are sending a message.” “We are not as organised as we claim to be. There has to be a security breach. It is insurgency,” she said. — IANS
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Police custody of Sreesanth, Chandila extended by 2 days
New Delhi, May 26 The police is also probing the role of a man named as Abhishek
Shukla. Investigators claimed that in a telephonic transcript, Shukla is telling someone to clean the Sofitel Hotel room in Mumbai, where IPL cricketer Sreesanth had stayed. The conversation allegedly took place after the cricketer was arrested. The police suspects that in this manner, the money may have been removed from the room. A Delhi court today extended the police remand of
Sreesanth, his Rajasthan Royals teammate Ajit Chandila and two bookies -- Ashwani
Aggarwal, alias Tinku Mandi, and Chandresh Patel, alias Chand -- by two days. The police told the court that their custody was required to unearth the entire conspiracy in the case. The court rejected police’s plea for further remand of Babu Rao
Yadav, a former Indian Cricket League (ICL) player. Yadav, Rajasthan Royals player Ankit
Chavan, two fixers -- Jiju Janardhan, who is Sreesanth’s friend, and Deepak Kumar -- besides bookie Manan were remanded to judicial custody until June 4. The police has arrested 19 persons in connection with the IPL spot-fixing case. Meanwhile, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan, arguing for the police, informed the court that Ashwani had revealed the name of fixer Mohammed
Yahya, who was arrested from Hyderabad. The police is also searching for a man named
Amir, who is the connecting link between the bookies and the Dubai-based underworld. “Amir has played a major role in the whole scam. We want to interrogate Ashwani to know about Amir’s whereabouts,” said Mohan to the court. Investigators are taking the help of cyber experts in cracking the password to Amir’s email account, through which money transactions were made. In regard to
Sreesanth, the police claimed that he had disclosed Shukla’s name. Mohan told the court, “The articles that Sreesanth purchased with the betting money have been recovered. The bills of the parties that he had thrown were paid by Shukla as his pan card details were mentioned in the bill.” The police wants to interrogate Sreesanth to ascertain if Shukla played a role in the spot-fixing case.
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Dalit groom leads marriage party under police protection
Bundi (Raj), May 26 According to the police, bridegroom Ramesh, belonging to Meghwal community which is categorised under Scheduled Caste, was supposed to wed in Deoli town of Tonk district yesterday. When Ramesh was riding on horseback during his marriage procession in Barwas village of Hindoli sub-division on Friday night, he was stopped by some Gujjar community members. The community members believe that it is an exclusive right of upper castes to ride a horse during wedding procession. On a complaint of Ramesh's father Udailal Meghwal, a case against two dozen Gujjar community members was registered yesterday under various Sections of the IPC and the SC-ST Act, however, no one has been arrested so far in this connection, Station House Officer (SHO), Hindoli police station, Sheeshram Meena said. The case has been lodged against Kanhaya Gurjar, Laxman Gujar, Kalu Gujar, Narayan Gujar and about 15 others of the same village, the SHO said, adding, raids are being conducted to nab them from suspected locations. — PTI
Wedding blues
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Malda infant death toll rises to 14
Malda (WB), May 26 Two more infants died last night taking the toll to 14 since May 22, as the expert team headed by Joint Director of Medical Education Research and Training (MERT) Dr Indrajit Saha said malnutrition and low weight were the causes for the deaths. The team today visited the hospital premises and various departments and surveyed the precautionary measures being taken to avoid such incidents. According to the team’s report, the cause of deaths was nothing “abnormal” with malnutrition being a common factor. Earlier reports had put the death toll at 16. —
PTI
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Naidu hopeful of Third Front resurgence
Hyderabad, May 26 “There will be a repeat of the 1996 scenario as the non-Congress and the
non-BJP formations are gaining strength. We are bringing together all like-minded parties to form the Third Front. It will be either a pre-poll or a post-poll alliance,” Naidu told a select group of journalists in an informal chat at his residence here today. While ruling himself out of the prime ministerial race,
Naidu, who had played a key role in the past in the formation of the United Front and NDA governments, said the process of forging the Third Front had begun and the efforts would gather momentum in due course. However, he declined to divulge the names of the constituent parties of the proposed front nor was he forthcoming on the question whether the new formation would project its prime ministerial candidate ahead of the General Elections. The TDP supremo’s confidence stems from the perception that both the ruling Congress and the main opposition BJP were weakening across the country while regional parties were gaining ground. “I do not want to disclose openly but we are working out collaboration among the like-minded parties. We will select the prime ministerial candidate through consensus,” he said. Asked whether he was in the race for the top post, Naidu said, “I was never an aspirant in the past nor am I a contender now. There are several experienced leaders.” On whether the new formation would announce its prime ministerial candidate in the event of both the UPA and NDA announcing their choices, he said, “I cannot guarantee you on that. As of now, we are not projecting anyone as PM. We will work it out based on consensus.” Foreseeing a greater role for his party in shaping the next government at the Centre, Naidu pointed out that the TDP was instrumental in the formation of non-congress governments in the
past. Naidu’s optimism about an alternative front gaining power post-2014 comes as a sharp contrast to the hazy picture on the ground as there are no visible signs of regional parties coming together as a cohesive political formation. Even the Left parties, the key players in such an alternative front, have not been very enthusiastic about the idea this time around. As a convener of the United Front, Naidu had played a key role not only in the policy making but also in deciding the prime ministerial candidates. Later, during the NDA regime, his party’s outside support became crucial for the survival of the
BJP-led coalition. Naidu had a six-year-long association with the NDA. He fought the elections in 1999 and 2004 in alliance with the
BJP. However, after losing power in the state in 2004, he severed links with the saffron party and moved closer to the Left parties in what was widely seen as an attempted image make-over.
guessing nameS
There will be a repeat of the 1996 scenario as the non-Congress and the
non-BJP formations are gaining strength. We are bringing together all like-minded parties to form the Third Front. It will be either a pre-poll or a post-poll alliance. — N Chandrababu
Naidu, Andhra ex-CM |
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CBI to probe death of terror accused in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, May 26 The explanation comes in the wake of the indefinite dharna by Rihai Manch and civil rights activists in front of the Vidhan Sabha demanding action against the police officers named in the FIR filed by the family. Muslims organisations in the state have also taken up the demand for an impartial probe into Mujahid’s death. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has announced to take up the issue at its next meeting in New Delhi. Mujahid’s family had named 42 police officers in the FIR, which included the police officers in charge at the time of Mujahid’s arrest in December 2007 as well as those at the time of his death. While the state government has suspended the entire team of eight policemen who had escorted Mujahid and three others to the Faizabad court on May 18, no action has been initiated against the team which was responsible for his arrest reportedly on false charges. It includes the then DGP, STF and ATS chiefs and a host of other senior officers. The state government spokesperson today said following the demand of Mujahid’s family, the probe has been handed over to the CBI. Besides this, Faizabad’s Chief Judicial Magistrate is conducting a judicial enquiry. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has ordered another high-level probe to be conducted by Department of Home Secretary Rakesh and Power Corporation ADG Javed Akhtar. The spokesperson pointed out that a compensation of Rs 6 lakh had been sanctioned for Mujahid’s family. However, the family has categorically refused to accept the money and demanded an impartial probe into his death instead. Interestingly, the official press statement points out that Mujahid’s postmortem was conducted in the presence of his family members at Faizabad by a panel of five doctors, including two Muslims. The postmortem was also videographed to rule out any controversy at a later stage. Illustrating government’s earnestness, the press release highlights that it had already suspended the government counsel who did not properly plead the government case for dropping terror charges against Mujahid before the Barabanki Special Sessions Judge Kalpana Mishra on May 10. The Barabanki court had rejected the April 24 application moved by the government requesting withdrawal of cases against Khalid Mujahid and Tariq Qasmi accused in the Gorakhpur serial blasts. They had later been charged for the November 2007 serial blasts across courts in Faizabad, Lucknow and
Varanasi. |
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India becomes observer at Arctic Council
New Delhi, May 26 Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were also granted the observer status at the eighth ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council held in Kiruna in Sweden. Some 230 delegates, including ministers from the eight Arctic states, scientists and observers took part in the meeting, which marks the end of the two-year Swedish chairmanship. Canada is the new chairman of the body. Founded about 20 years ago, the Arctic Council is a high-level inter-governmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the region. It has eight member countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The council so far had six non-Arctic countries as observers - the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands. Hitherto, Russia and Canada were said to be opposed to influential non-Arctic countries joining the league. Given the strategic and commercial importance of the Arctic, some member countries now want its role to be expanded to cover security issues and other legally binding decisions. India has for quite some time been seeking the support of member-countries of the Arctic Council to become an observer at the council, having begun its scientific endeavours in the frozen sea in 2007. India had also set up a permanent research station there in 2008.
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Programme for healthcare during disasters launched
New Delhi, May 26 When a disaster strikes even normal life issues such as menstruation becomes a major worry for adolescent girls, while gender-based violence, sexually-transmitted infections and sexual exploitation are other concerns. In view of the risks posed to vulnerable groups, a manual “Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP)” in emergencies, keeping women, children and adolescents at the centre was launched in the Capital recently. Once adapted by all the states, the government could integrate it with services under the National Health Mission. A joint initiative of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), it aims at offering timely reproductive health services to survivors of disasters in the areas of family planning, maternal and neonatal care, STIs and prevent sexual violence. Goa is the first state to pilot it in its disaster management (DM) planning. States such as Bihar and Odisha have started integrating MISP in the health and DM planning. “Once all states adapt themselves after training, MISP may be factored into country’s National Health Mission,” said NDMA’s vice-chairperson M Shashidhar Reddy at the launch. “Seventy-five per cent of the population during the disasters comprises of young people, including women and children. Disasters have hit several states with regular impunity, be it flood, cyclone or earthquake which require large-scale evacuations. MISP has been introduced in preparedness and disaster management plan and is now a part of a template at district level,” he said. He added that this would come as a useful tool in capacity-building to address the challenges of reproductive health issues, including gender-based violence during disasters. The initiative, anchored by NDMA member Muzaffar Ahmad and reviewed by a team of experts and representatives from the National AIDS Control Organisation, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare and the National Institute of Disaster Management along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in August 2012 with a master trainer’s training programme at Sohna in Gurgaon, the first of its kind training programme in the country on MISP and followed by another in Hyderabad. “The Asia-Pacific region is known to be most disaster-prone in the world, including India which ranks sixth out of 196 nations. Women are forced to deliver in unhygienic conditions and along with high-risk behaviour, we have seen an increase in sexual violence,” remarked UNFPA representative Frederika
Meijer.
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A day after a Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh claimed close to 30 lives, Chief Minister Raman Singh today said an elaborate strategy would be put in place.
Gurgaon, May 26
This is not the time for hurling allegations or to engage in a political tug-of-war. This is also not the time to talk about the ruling party or the Opposition, but to unitedly take on 'Red Terror' and give them a fitting response for the carnage.
“A strong response to the attack is needed as targeting political leaders was a show of strength by the Maoists who are now ready to take on the government,” said PK Mishra, former Additional Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF).
The police escorted the marriage procession of a 24-year-old Dalit bridegroom, who was allegedly not allowed to ride on horseback by Gujjar community members in Barwas village.
