|
|
|
|
|
HC rejects plea for lifting of ban on VHP’s Ayodhya yatra
Delhi’s shame
Parties hit out at RSS, VHP
|
|
|
Jagan to start hunger stir against division of Andhra
Cong men learn ways to win social media battles
PM, Sonia inaugurate National Media Centre
WB-assisted AIDS project launched
Vizag refinery fire toll 10
Selja: Talks on with private sector for job quota
|
|
HC rejects plea for lifting of ban on VHP’s Ayodhya yatra
Lucknow, August 24 The Division Bench of Justice LK Mohapatra and DK Upadhyaya dismissed the PIL filed by lawyer Mahesh Gupta seeking the court’s directions to Uttar Pradesh allowing sadhus to perform the “parikrama” starting on August 25 from Makhoura in Basti district and ending at Ayodhya on September 13. The PIL claimed the yatra was a “Hindu religious custom” and that the sadhus must be allowed to carry out the “parikrama” peacefully. Chief standing counsel pleading on behalf of the state government said there was nothing in the writ petition to show that the “84 Kosi Parikrama” was a religious custom followed at the place mentioned. He also pointed out that such a “parikrama” had never been undertaken in the past 50 years. The counsel said since there was absence of any material evidence to show that the proposed “parikrama” was part of a religious custom, no direction could be issued. After hearing both sides, the court summarily dismissed the petition.
VHP defiant as 350 activists held
Around 350 VHP activists and some of its leaders were arrested as tension escalated in Ayodhya and Faizabad on the eve of the yatra on Saturday. Security was beefed up as VHP announced to go ahead with its yatra, which has been banned by the SP government fearing a communal flare-up. Arrest warrants were issued against VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia and Ram Vilas Vedanti.
Security stepped up in Ghaziabad
Security has been tightened in Ghaziabad and prohibitory orders clamped in the district. The Section 144 of CrPc will remain in force till September 15. — PTI
|
|
Dacoits gang-rape woman constable in Jharkhand
Latehar (Jharkhand), August 24 As per the FIR filed by her yesterday, she was gang-raped by dacoits when she was going to Garhwa from Ranchi by a car in the wee hours of August 22, Superintendent of Police Michael S Raj said. She, along with her two sisters, were taking the body of her brother-in-law, which was in another vehicle, for cremation. Her sisters were not harmed, the SP said quoting the FIR. Five persons have been detained for interrogation, the police said. The dacoits also looted passengers of different vehicles between midnight and 2 am. The rape victim, a widow, is a constable with the Latehar district police. She has two minor daughters. She got the job after her husband was killed in the Maoist ambush on the convoy of former Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari in Latehar district's Garu block in December, 2011, the SP said. A three-member team, headed by Deputy Superintendent of police Alok Kumar, has been formed to investigate the matter, the SP said. — PTI
Accused intended to kill victims, court told
New Delhi: The prosecution in the December 16 gang-rape case on Saturday told a court that the brutal assault meted out to the victim and her male friend by the alleged rapists was with a motive to "eliminate" them so that neither was left alive to narrate the horrific ordeal. PTI
|
||||||
|
Parties hit out at RSS, VHP
New Delhi, August 24 Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Prabhunath Singh of the RJD sought Central intervention saying VHP's plans "supported by BJP" were not good for communal harmony in the country. He went a step further and suggested that political parties supporting the yatra should be derecognised. This led to an exchange of words between members of BJP and RJD. SP members supported their RJD counterparts. The yatra has been banned by the UP government and the RSS and the VHP have chosen to defy the ban. Dara Singh Chauhan of the BSP termed the yatra as a case of "shadow boxing" between BJP and SP, which is ruling Uttar
Pradesh.
|
||||||
|
Jagan to start hunger stir against division of Andhra
Hyderabad, August 24 Jagan is lodged in Chanchalguda central prison here since his arrest in May last year in connection with the alleged illegal assets case. His fledgling party has a massive following in Rayalseema and coastal Andhra regions, jointly referred as Seemandhra, where the people have been on a warpath opposing the UPA’s decision to carve out Telangana. The decision was announced by the party leaders after they met him in the jail. The Kadapa MP will be picking up the thread from where his mother and the party’s honorary president YS Vijayamma has left. She ended her six-day long hunger strike at the coastal Andhra city of Guntur today following a request made by Jagan keeping in view her deteriorating health condition. In a midnight swoop, the police had forcibly shifted Vijayamma from the venue of the fast and admitted her to a government hospital in Guntur. Though YSR Congress Party has not openly opposed the state’s bifurcation, its support to the agitating people of Seemandhra is seen as a clever move by the party to occupy the political space being provided by the united AP movement. Its main contention is that if the UPA government cannot ensure "equal justice" to all the three regions, then it should not go ahead with the division of the state.
Fast-unto-death from today
|
||||||
|
Cong men learn ways to win social media battles
New Delhi, August 24 At the two-day Congress conclave on digital media which ended yesterday ahead of five state Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections next year, top honchos from Twitter and Facebook spoke to more than 200 Congress delegates from across India on how to use these social media platforms for communicating the political message to the electorate. These experts addressed two tailor-made sessions for this purpose - Facebook for Politics and Twitter for Politics. Led by Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, the Congress delegates learnt from Twitter and Facebook experts all about the global best practices which used the digital space to perfection to defeat their political rivals. Yet another hit session at the conclave was :“How we can win: Understanding the tools to win social media battles”. Speaking to The Tribune later about the experience, Hooda said: “This is the first time we got top social media experts to share with us the best practices which have been used the world over to win electoral battles. The idea really is to make the best use of digital space which more than eight crore people access on a daily basis. Though the BJP began using this platform ahead of us, we are sure to take them on better by spreading the message of nation building which the Congress has contributed to. For example we will talk to people about IITs, which Pandit Nehru built.” Each state Congress unit was asked to send five functionaries each to attend the workshop where Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari spoke about the role of social media in communication strategy of the Congress and MoS HRD Shashi Tharoor spoke about the dos and don’ts of digital media. Quite clearly, Tharoor spoke from experience from his controversial “cattle class” remark made on Twitter in respect of the Indian middle class some years ago.
Back to class
|
||||||
|
PM, Sonia inaugurate National Media Centre
New Delhi, August 24 “A spirit of inquiry must not morph into a campaign of calumny,’’ he said after inaugurating the National Media Centre along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The state-of-the-art Rs 60 crore media centre has been planned on the model of media centres in some of major world capitals such as Washington and Tokyo. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the building, which was first conceptualised 21 years ago, had finally become a reality. It has been built by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) in three years. The project is aimed at further improving dissemination of information about government policies and programmes. Underlining that credibility was the media’s currency and was integral to its contract with the reader or the viewer, the PM said there was also the question of a certain responsibility for social harmony and public order. “I emphasise this particularly in the light of the social media revolution, which is rendering irrelevant the lines between a connected citizen and professional journalist.’’ A mature and wise handling of this phenomenon was essential if the country was to avoid the tragedy last year that befell many innocent souls, who became victims of on online propaganda campaign and were then driven across the country to save their lives in their home states, the PM said. He reiterated the UPA Government’s commitment in fostering a free, pluralistic and independent media. Sharing the dais with the PM, Sonia Gandhi was of the view that at times the language and dignity of the media discussion could be found wanting. “Sometimes, I too, have to confess that the media makes the political establishment uncomfortable.” She said the well-intentioned criticism of the policies of the government by the media was welcome as it played an important function as the watchdog of the society. There was need to highlight the shortcomings in government policies and the media needed to be ‘the government’s enemy’, she said.
|
||||||
|
WB-assisted AIDS project launched
New Delhi, August 24 The National AIDS Control Support Project was launched in Delhi by the department of AIDS control. — PTI
|
||||||
|
Vizag refinery fire toll 10
Hyderabad, August 24 The fire broke out at one of the cooling towers in the refinery complex yesterday. — TNS
|
||||||
|
Selja: Talks on with private sector for job quota New Delhi, August 24 “We are talking to the private sector in this matter and we do not want to take any stringent steps. We would want everything to be done amicably. We are for affirmative action. That’s our promise even in the UPA election manifestos,” Selja said when she wrapped up the discussion on the Bill which changes the SC list for four states. One SC entry has been deleted from the list of Sikkim. Selja said although the government wants to take a consensus path, the private sector should understand the importance of giving empowerment to SCs and STs. There will be consequences if they do not agree, she said.
|
||||||
Jodhpur
Guwahati Chennai Barabanki (UP)
Lucknow
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Lucknow, August 24
New Delhi, August 24
