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Bihar bandh: BJP, JD(U) workers clash
File chargesheet in Ishrat case by July 4: HC to CBI
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Congress, BJP deploy Gujarati commanders for UP 2014 battle
Lower academic grades ‘linked to higher sexual activity’
Cong leader’s kin held for rash driving
kunda DSP murder
Agra international airport gets UP Cabinet approval
Aarushi case
SRK in trouble over ‘sex determination’ test of foetus
SC orders security cover for Punjab Police informer
HC: Adult couple indulging in sex are husband-wife
Cultural unity: India, China to co-produce films
PM dismayed over Lanka’s move to dilute 13th Amendment
game Shame
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Bihar bandh: BJP, JD(U) workers clash
Patna, June 18 Over 3,200 persons, including BJP leaders Sushil Kumar Modi, Ravi Shankar Prasad and CP Thakur, were arrested. A clash broke out on the Veer Chand Patel Path, which hosts offices of both the JD(U) and BJP, with lathi-wielding supporters of the two parties attacking each other which resulted in injuries on both sides. The clash took place after BJP protesters objected to a group of JD(U) workers, led by the state unit spokesman Rajiv Ranjan, marching towards their office apparently to obstruct their agitation. An FIR was lodged by an injured Ranjan against BJP workers in the Kotwali police station, Station House Officer Aman Kumar said. Ranjan was first taken to the Gardinar Road Government Hospital and then rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital where he was admitted in the ICU. He was kept under observation, his close aide said. Senior BJP leaders, including Thakur, Sushil Modi, Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Radhamohan Singh and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, were held at Dak Bunglow Chowk, the police said. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) SK Bhardwaj said that a total 3,227 persons, including top BJP leaders, were arrested during the bandh. Sources in East Central Railway (ECR) said that at least four trains were halted by bandh supporters at different places in the state. Commenting on BJP's naming of today's bandh as "Viswasghat Divas", Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "When you break up from something, it initially leads to venting of anger. "Keeping in view the long association, I'll try to have good relations with them (BJP). Political issues would be answered politically," he told reporters. The ADG said that a maximum 784 protesters were held in Patna followed by 307 in Araria, 254 in Gaya, 212 in Nawada and 211 in Nalanda, home district of the Chief Minister. A spokesman of ECR said that the Rajgir-Danapur passenger train was stopped at Rajgir while the Dehri-on-Sone to Patna passenger train was halted at Nadwa. The Bihar Sampark Kranti train was also halted between Darbhanga and Lehariasarai. Though offices and banks were open, there was thin traffic on the roads of Patna during the bandh. A majority of autorickshaws kept off the roads in the capital and shopkeepers in major markets downed shutters. Before being arrested, former Deputy Chief Minister Modi said that the bandh was successful and that it was for the first time since 1974 JP movement that people in villages and 'kasbas' closed their shops and vented their anger against the government. On Kumar's remark that after separation, a person vents anger, Modi said, "This is a reflection of his betrayal." Echoing Modi, Shahnawaz Hussain, BJP MP from Bhagalpur, said, "This is the beginning of the fall of the Nitish Kumar government. We have not seen such a massive shutdown earlier and JD(U) supporters will agree with me on that." Bihar unit BJP chief Mangal Pandey alleged that the Chief Minister had instigated JD(U) workers to foil the BJP-sponsored bandh and attack its workers. Prasad, Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha, said his party had taken to the streets in Bihar as people were feeling "deeply humiliated and cheated" since they had given the mandate to JD(U)-BJP to govern. — PTI
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File chargesheet in Ishrat case by July 4: HC to CBI
Ahmedabad, June 18
"This needs to be streamlined and the agency is directed to file the chargesheet in this case by July 4 so that no other accused gets the benefit of bail due to lapse of time," the Bench said. Commenting on the manner of investigation conducted so far by the investigating agency, the court said the CBI needs to concentrate on the genuineness of the encounter instead of other aspects like the status of the persons who have lost their lives in the encounter. “We just want to ensure that the investigation remains on track so that the truth can be unearthed," it said. On the utilisation of services of state cadre IPS officer Satish Verma by the CBI, the court said sufficient time was given to the CBI to avail the services of Verma. "We direct that his services to the CBI will be available only till June 23 and from the next date, he shall report back to the state government," the court further said. The court has also ordered the CBI to file a compliance report by July 26 when the next hearing of the case is scheduled. The CBI, on the instruction of the high court, had taken over the probe of the alleged fake encounter in which 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004 allegedly by a state Crime Branch team led by DIG DG Vanzara. — PTI
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Congress, BJP deploy Gujarati commanders for UP 2014 battle Shahira Naim/TNS
Lucknow, June 18 At present, the Congress has 22 seats in the Lok Sabha from the state, while the BJP has 10. It is famously said the road to New Delhi passes through Lucknow. BJP’s latest poster boy Narendra Modi’s close associate and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah took over as in charge of Uttar Pradesh unit last week. He set the balling rolling when he visited the state for two days on a stock-taking visit. It was Shah’s first visit to the state. If Shah is Modi’s man, Mistry is considered close to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Mistry is also new to Uttar Pradesh. A low-profile leader, he worked for tribes of Sabarkantha for nearly three decades with the help of his two NGOs before joining politics. Believed to have grown in stature after working for the Congress’ Karnataka victory, Mistry is said to be a man known for his organisational skills. He has been apparently brought to offset Shah’s aggressive style of functioning. Certainly it is no coincidence that Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to Parliament would have master strategists from Gujarat at the helm of affairs. Both have proven track record of energising party workers to electoral victories.
The strategists
* The Congress has appointed AICC general secretary Madhusudan Devram Mistry as in charge of UP *
Narendra Modi’s close associate and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah will lead the BJP in the state *
Both belong to Gujarat and have no track record of dealing with UP affairs *
Mistry has been apparently brought to offset Shah’s aggressive style of functioning
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Lower academic grades ‘linked to higher sexual activity’
Chandigarh, June 18 Titled “Interaction of media, sexual activity and academic achievement in adolescents”, the study involved close to 600 students of class IX - XII in co-educational schools to evaluate the relation of academic performance, exposure to media such as television and internet to sexual activity and academic performance of the students and the role of parental discussion on these issues. Undertaken by six specialists from the Armed Forces Medical College, military hospitals and a civilian psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health, Agra, the study, claimed to be the first of its kind in India, has been published in the current issue of the Medical Journal Armed Forces India. “We found significant association among boys having sexual contact and scoring of marks. Among both boys and girls, larger percentage of the students scored less than 70 per cent. However, it is interesting that among the boys scoring 51-70 per cent marks, a larger number of students have had sexual contact. That is, those performing averagely are more likely to be associated with sexual contact,” the study observed. Adolescence, according to the authors, is a period when the individual is vulnerable and exposure to sexually implicit/explicit programs on television and internet can influence their sexual behaviour and make them more permissive towards premarital sex, which is known to influence their academic performance. While adolescence is a period of turmoil and exploration, they are also expected to perform well academically. Parental discussion on these matters is important. It was observed that duration of watching TV had no significant association with having sexual contact. “It is interesting to note that in those watching English movies and serials, there is an increased association of having sexual contact, while in those watching cartoons it is significant but negatively associated i.e. those having sexual contact are less likely to be watching cartoons. Various other channels like news, Hindi movies, serials and others have had no significant association,” the authors state.
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Cong leader’s kin held for rash driving
Mumbai, June 18 The victim, identified as Lado Gupta, was declared dead in hospital. Raunak’s blood samples have been sent to hospital to see whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol.
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kunda DSP murder
Lucknow, June 18
Appearing before the special CBI court, Raja of Kunda and Independent MLA Raja Bhaiyya agreed to face any investigation, including the lie-detection test, as he was “innocent and had nothing to hide”. On June 6, the CBI had moved an application seeking permission to carry out a lie-detector test (polygraph test) on Raja Bhaiyya in connection with the March 2 murder of Kunda DSP Ziaul Haq. The application moved by the Central probe agency in the special court had sought Raja Bhaiyya’s consent for the test. When the matter came up for hearing on June 11, Raja Bhaiyya’s counsel had asked for a fresh date as Raja Bhaiyya had gone on a pilgrimage. The slain Kunda CO Ziaul Haq’s widow Parveen Azad had charged the minister and his associates of criminal conspiracy in the murder of her husband. It was on her demand that the state government had handed over the investigation to the CBI.
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Agra international airport gets UP Cabinet approval
Lucknow, June 18 A state cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today approved of the plan to grant 1,200 acres of forest, non-forest and agricultural land for the project. It is now being referred to the central government for various ministerial clearances. The cabinet today also approved of a Rs 139.49 crore Tajganj project which would be responsible for the upgradation and beautification of all the roads leading to the historic monument in the Tajganj ward of Agra city. Under the project world-class services would be provided to tourists visiting the monument. International-level civic and infrastructural amenities would be made available to tourists in all the major thoroughfares leading up to the Taj from the three entrances (east, west and south gates). Under this project telephone and cable wires in the area would go underground, drinking water would be made available, fire tenders would be on stand by round-the-clock and solar energy would be used for the street lights of the entire area which is to be developed as a green belt.
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Court allows summoning of 7 defence witnesses
Ghaziabad, June 18 However, the court rejected two other pleas of the dentist couple, in which they had sought reports of scientific tests and demanded a number of exhibits to be examined by their DNA expert. Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Lal said the defence witnesses could depose in the court from June 20. The court rejected the demand of Talwars to summon former Uttar Pradesh ADG (crime and law &order) Arun Kumar as a defence witness. The seven defence witnesses, on which the court agreed, include Dr RK Sharma, former HoD of forensic science at AIIMS, Dr Urmil Sharma, a gynaecologist and emeritus consultant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, Dr Amulya Chadda, a dentist and Mahendra Sharma, a carpenter. CBI Judge Shyam Lal also directed the CBI to produce the golf stick in the court at the time of the recording of statements of Dr RK Sharma. Sharma is likely to give his opinion on the golf stick in the court on June 20. CBI investigating officer AGL Kaul had told the court that Rajesh Talwar brutally hit Aarushi and Hemraj with their golf stick "after finding them in a compromising condition". "Our two applications regarding submission of scientific test reports, other documents, and exhibits to be examined by defence's DNA expert were rejected. However, the court partially accepted our defence witness list, allowing seven out of 13 to record their statements," said Manoj Sisodia, Talwars' counsel. The judge, however, dropped the names of Arun Kumar, Dr Richa Sexena, SL Vaya, expert at FSL in Gujarat Nodal officer of Airtel, and UP ADG (crime and law &order) to summon them as defence witnesses, he said. — PTI
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SRK in trouble over ‘sex determination’ test of foetus
Mumbai, June 18
Surrogate baby? * Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials visited the Shah Rukh Khan’s residence on Monday to question the actor and his wife after tabloid reports that the couple is expecting their third child through a surrogate mother *
An unnamed friend of the family was quoted as saying that the couple is expecting a baby boy *
Neither Khan nor his publicists have confirmed that the couple is expecting their third child Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited the Khans' residence on Monday to question the actor and his wife after tabloid media reported that the couple is expecting their third child through a surrogate mother. An unnamed friend of the family was quoted as saying that the couple is expecting a baby boy. "Officials of the health department visited Khan's residence to record his statement," Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Manisha Mhaiskar said. The visiting officials, however, could not meet Khan as he was out of town. His wife Gauri and their two children were away to London when the officials came calling. Mhaiskar said the health department is required by law to proceed against the Khans and the doctor who conducted the sex determination test, if it was done in Mumbai. The BMC investigation comes after a complaint filed by a Lek Ladki Abhiyan, a non-government organisation. According to Varsha Deshpande, one of the NGO’s co-founders, anyone violating the law on sex determination is liable to undergo five years' imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 50,000. Incidentally, neither Khan nor his publicists have confirmed that the actor and his wife are expecting their third child. The Bollywood rumour mill has it that the Khans may have employed a surrogate mother in the United Kingdom. The Khans have two children Aryaan and Suhana.
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SC orders security cover for Punjab Police informer
New Delhi, June 18 A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and Ranjan Gogoi asked the government to file a compliance report within two weeks as Sukhwinder Singh said the two militant outfits had offered a reward of Rs 2.5 crore and two kg gold to anyone killing him. Sukhwinder Singh said he was facing threat as he had fought against militancy in Punjab in the 1980s after militants had killed seven people who were attending the marriage of his friend. He produced a number media reports in support of his contention. The Bench passed the order even as Additional Solicitor General Sidharth Luthra said that according to the police in Delhi and Punjab there was no threat perception against Singh. Further, Singh was refusing to disclose his place of residence citing security concerns, the ASG said. The Bench pointed out that right to life was a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution and as such it was obligatory on the part of the government to provide security. Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected his plea for adequate security as the senior superintendent of police, Kapurthala, said there was no need for stepping up security. The SC would take up Sukhwinder Singh’s writ petition for further hearing in the second week of July.
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HC: Adult couple indulging in sex are husband-wife
Chennai, June 18 He said that marriage formalities of tying a ‘mangalsutra’, garlands and rings were only for the satisfaction of society. — PTI
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Cultural unity: India, China to co-produce films
New Delhi, June 18 With the Aamir Khan-starrer “3 Idiots” and Shahrukh Khan’s “My Name is Khan” proving extremely popular across China, Beijing is said to be keen to work out ways to allow screening of more Indian films in the country. Various proposals for cooperation between the two countries in the field of cinema were discussed during talks between Information Minister Manish Tewari and his Chinese counterpart Cai Fuchao here today. India has invited China to become the “principal guest country” at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014 to be held in Goa, Tewari told the media later. “We have also requested them (China) to send classical Chinese films to the IFFI in Goa later this year in November,” he added. Fuchao, who is visiting India for the inaugural ceremony of the Chinese Film Festival being held here, said the two countries should develop their ties from with long perspective. That included strengthening bilateral ties in areas of film and culture. In the meeting that lasted over two hours, I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma raised the issue of easing restrictions for allowing more Indian films to be shown in China. “The Secretary raised the matter with the Chinese side about greater access for Indian movies. We are going to constitute a joint working group for the purpose,” Tewari said. Officials said the issue of allowing landing rights to Doordarshan in China was also raised during the meeting. With Indian soaps also becoming popular, the Indian side pushed for “landing rights” for more Indian channels so that more Indian serials could be shown in China. The possibility of having enhanced exchanges in the field of films or exchange of personnel of public broadcasters, cooperation between film industries and regular student exchange between the film institutes was also discussed.
Friendship script
* Beijing is said to be keen to work out ways to allow screening of
more Indian films in China * Related issues were discussed during talks between Information Minister Manish Tewari and his Chinese counterpart Cai Fuchao on Tuesday *
India has invited China to become the “principal guest country” at the International Film Festival of
India-2014 to be held in Goa * India has also requested China to send classical Chinese films to the festival
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PM dismayed over Lanka’s move to dilute 13th Amendment
New Delhi, June 18 The changes would also be incompatible with the recommendation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, set up by the Government of Sri Lanka, calling for a settlement based on the devolution of power to the provinces. According to MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin, the PM stated that he was concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. He stressed on the expectation that the Sri Lankan Tamil community would lead a life of dignity, as equal citizens, and reiterated that India would make every effort to ensure the achievement of a future for the community marked by equality, justice and self-respect. The delegation also called on External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and National Security Adviser Shivshanker
Menon.
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Cops tortured us: Bookies
New Delhi, June 18 Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain directed the police to file its response by June 22. The allegations assume significance as Umesh Goenka, the business partner of Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra, had claimed before court that he was forced to name Kundra on instructions from Delhi Police personnel who had "physically abused" him. — PTI
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Putting behind the memories of their recent face-off on the border in Ladakh, India and China today identified co-production of films as a new area of cooperation between them to promote cultural links.
A Division Bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari told the CBI that there was considerable delay in the investigation and filing of the chargesheet resulting in
the accused being released on bail.
He was talking to a six-member delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) from Sri Lanka which called on him this evening. It was noted that the changes proposed by Colombo raised doubts about the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government to India and the international community, including the United Nations, on a political settlement in the island nation that would go beyond the 13th Amendment.