N A T I O N

Telgi’s parole plea order reserved
Bangalore, November 15
A fast-track court trying the multi-crore stamp paper scam today reserved orders for November 22 on an application filed by alleged kingpin of the racket Karim Lala Telgi praying for his release for a week on parole.

Sonia hosts Iftar party
New Delhi, November 15
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today exuded confidence over her party’s prospects in the next month’s crucial Assembly elections. 

Inspector held in poet case

New Delhi, November 15 The CBI today arrested an Uttar Pradesh Police Inspector for allegedly "suppressing facts" in the Madhumita Shukla murder case even as Prakash Chander Pandey, the man alleged to have murdered the poetess, and two other were being brought here to undergo a lie detection test.
Accused in the Madhumita Shukla murder case, Rohit Chaturvedi (face covered), and Prakash Chandra Pandey being taken out in Lucknow on Saturday before their departure to New Delhi for further interrogation by the CBI. — PTI photo

BRIEFLY

Indian artists give finishing touches to a sand sculpture of Chanakya, India's first modern management consultant and philosopher in the fourth century BC, during the 23rd India International Trade Fair in New Delhi on Saturday. South Asia's biggest trade fair opened in New Delhi on Friday and nearly 7,500 domestic and international exhibitors are taking part.
— Reuters

Itanagar, November 15 Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today said India’s relations with China have progressed well which has had a direct and positive impact on Arunachal Pradesh for which he announced development assistance of Rs 250 crore.

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani greets the supporters during a civic reception in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, on Saturday. — PTI photo

Digvijay issues notice to Uma Bharti
Bhopal, November 15
The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, has sent, through his lawyer, a notice to the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Ms Uma Bharti, asking her to withdraw, within 24 hours, the allegations of corruption that she had levelled against him or face legal action.

TDP to abide by EC’s decision
Hyderabad, November 16
A day after dissolution of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the ruling TDP appeared reconciled to the possibility of a delay in the elections, notwithstanding its preference for mid-February polls.

Cong ready for AP poll: Reddy
New Delhi, November 15
The Congress yesterday said it was “more than ready” for Assembly poll in Andhra Pradesh and indicated that the party was not averse to having a tie-up with Left parties or Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

Five hurt in communal clash
Hyderabad, November 15
The police today used mild force at three places to disperse stone-pelting groups of two communities in the old city here which witnessed communal flare-up over construction of a compound wall adjoining a place of worship last night.

Raman Kumar's "Wah Wah Ramji" hits theatres today. (28k, 56k)

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is set to lend her support to NRI director Gautam Das's docu-drama based on the life of Mother Teresa. (28k, 56k)

Telgi’s parole plea order reserved
TNS, PTI and UNI

Bangalore, November 15
A fast-track court trying the multi-crore stamp paper scam today reserved orders for November 22 on an application filed by alleged kingpin of the racket Karim Lala Telgi praying for his release for a week on parole.

Telgi has filed the application for his release to visit his ailing mother and wife at Khanapur in Belgaum district in Karnataka.

Judge Nagashetty, after hearing the counsel for Telgi, reserved orders and posted the case to November 22.

Telgi, in another application, sought a direction to jail authorities to restore the television set facility which was withdrawn from him.

NEW DELHI: Former Maharashatra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP’s state unit president Gopinath Munde today demanded a CBI probe into the multi-crore Telgi stamp paper scam saying ‘people did not have faith in the corrupt Congress-led government the state’.

Refuting the charges that the origin of Telgi stamp paper scam was during the Shiv-Sena-BJP government, which failed to act properly, Mr Munde said “The moment I took over I had cancelled the license of Telgi after a case of fake stamp papers worth Rs 16 lakh came to light...But the Congress regime renewed the license to him.”

“Only an independent CBI probe could reach to the bottom of the case,” Mr Munde told newspersons.

PUNE: MCOCA Judge S M Shembole today rejected and dismissed the bail plea of Manoj Mehta, one of the accused in the inter-state multi-crore fake stamp paper racket.

Public Prosecutor Raja Thackeray had argued yesterday that Manoj Mehta, a resident of Ghatkopar was involved in the racket from 1994 and had financial connections with the prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi as was reflected in the bank accounts.

Meanwhile, in a related case, the court today deferred the bail plea of Abdul Rashid Kulkarni, lawyer of prime accused on a point of law till November 19. The prosecution had presented its argument against the bail today.

Sonia hosts Iftar party
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today exuded confidence over her party’s prospects in the next month’s crucial Assembly elections. Looking relaxed and chatting amiably with persons at the Iftar hosted by her, Ms Gandhi said a Congress victory in the impending Assembly poll will be an answer to the BJP’s ``communal agenda.’’

Maintaining that the Congress was well placed in all five states, Ms Gandhi, however, stuck a note of caution when asked to predict the outcome. ``I would rather wait for results....I am always on the cautious side,’’ she said, adding that the party would do particularly well in Delhi and Rajasthan. As for Madhya Pradesh, Ms Gandhi reposed full confidence in the Chief Minister.

Like her earlier Iftars, the line-up of guests evoked as much interest as Ms Gandhi’s lengthy interaction with the media, particularly since the guest list is a good indicator of political alignments and equations.

Leaders of all alliance partners,she said, were invited.However, not all turned up. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav stayed away but was represented by Mr Amar Singh. NCP chief Sharad Pawar also chose to stay away. No senior leader from the Left parties could be spotted. BSP chief Mayawati, with whom the Congress is seeking to build bridges, was also not there. However, her party MP Rashid Alvi was present.

Significantly, National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah could be seen mingling with guests, who included a host of ambassadors, chief among them being the new Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. Former Prime Ministers I K Gujral and V P Singh, who particularly has had a estranged relationship with the Gandhi family for several years, were among the guests present.

Inspector held in poet case

New Delhi, November 15
The CBI today arrested an Uttar Pradesh Police Inspector for allegedly "suppressing facts" in the Madhumita Shukla murder case even as Prakash Chander Pandey, the man alleged to have murdered the poetess, and two other were being brought here to undergo a lie detection test.

The CBI, which was looking for Inspector Yagya Narain Dixit, detained him at the railway station and questioned him about allegations that he had illegally "confined" some people besides suppressing "facts" after the murder, CBI sources said here.

As his replies were not convincing, Dixit was placed under arrest and later remanded to the CBI custody till November 28 to facilitate his detailed interrogation, the sources said.

The CBI has accused Dixit, who was the station in charge of the Manak Nagar police station, of trying to project that the 24-year-old poetess, Madhumita, was married to an engineering student and had also recorded the statement of a priest who had performed the so-called marriage.

However, after the CBI took over the investigations on June 24, the engineering student and the priest suo moto recorded a statement before the agency that they were allegedly forced to make such a statement by Dixit, the sources alleged.

In a related development, Pandey, his accomplice Santosh Kumar Rai and Rohit Chaturvedi were being brought here to undergo a detailed interrogation and a lie detector test, the sources added. — PTI

Advani announces aid for Arunachal

Itanagar, November 15
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today said India’s relations with China have progressed well which has had a direct and positive impact on Arunachal Pradesh for which he announced development assistance of Rs 250 crore.

During the course of his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister also announced Central financial assistance of Rs 250 crore for development projects in the state and also promised to speak to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh for converting a loan of Rs 200 crore into a grant to help the state come out of financial crisis.

Mr Advani also announced that work on providing mobile telephone service to all districts of Arunachal Pradesh would be completed by December end.

Regarding financial assistance, Mr Advani said the Centre would give Rs 200 crore for the construction of a 500-bedded referral hospital, inaugurated by him near Itanagar yesterday.

Another Rs 20 crore would be provided by the Centre to upgrade the Arunachal Pradesh University and Rs 30 crore for the construction of a new assembly complex.

He said several unfinished schemes worth Rs 900 crore had been identified by the state government and the Department of North East Development would take a comprehensive view and take steps to complete them.

Central Ministers C.P. Thakur, Bijoya Chakravarty and Tapan Sikdar attended the rally. Chief Minister Gegong Apang presented a memorandum to Mr Advani on behalf of the state government for enhancing development work there.

Mr Advani said he would also talk to Railway Minister Nitish Kumar for a railway connectivity which the state had so far been deprived of. — PTI

Digvijay issues notice to Uma Bharti
Our Correspondent

Bhopal, November 15
The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, has sent, through his lawyer, a notice to the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Ms Uma Bharti, asking her to withdraw, within 24 hours, the allegations of corruption that she had levelled against him or face legal action.

Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP spokesman, said here today the party had not received any notice so far. “On its receipt the party would contemplate filing a criminal case against Mr Digvijay Singh,” he added.

Mr Ajay Gupta, advocate, has sent the notice on behalf of Mr Digvijay Singh. The notice says, “Ms Uma Bharti had levelled “baseless” charges against Mr Digvijay Singh with the sole motive of taking advantage in the elections.”

Mr Gupta says in the notice that his client had been hurt by the false allegations levelled against him as these amounted to character assassination and lowered his prestige in the eyes of the people.

Mr Digvijay Singh is said to be all prepared to file a defamation case against Ms Bharti on Monday.

The state’s Advocate-General, Mr Vivek Tankha, resigned from his post yesterday to be available for arguing Mr Digvijay Singh’s case against Ms Bharti in the court.

Cong ready for AP poll: Reddy
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
The Congress yesterday said it was “more than ready” for Assembly poll in Andhra Pradesh and indicated that the party was not averse to having a tie-up with Left parties or Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

“We welcome the developments in Andhra Pradesh. We are more than ready for polls. The Congress is eager to exploit the sentiments against the misrule of the Telgu Desam Party. We consider it an opportunity to rid the state of bad government,” Congress chief spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy said.

He said the reasons given by the Chief Minister for early poll were “false and perverse”.

On the reason of naxal violence, Mr Reddy said the state had been facing the problem of naxalites for the past 35 years. He said various parties in the state had dealt with it earlier and the Congress was facing a similar problem in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

TDP to abide by EC’s decision

Hyderabad, November 16
A day after dissolution of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the ruling TDP appeared reconciled to the possibility of a delay in the elections, notwithstanding its preference for mid-February polls.

A meeting of the party’s politburo here, chaired by TDP supremo and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, decided to abide by the decision of the Election Commission on the timing of snap polls.

Avoiding collision course with the Election Commission, the party decided not to send any representation to the poll panel on timing of the elections.

“We will entirely leave the matter to the Election Commission. Whatever decision it takes is binding on all parties,” the party MP and Spokesman U. Venkateshwarulu told reporters after the meeting. — PTI

Five hurt in communal clash

Hyderabad, November 15
The police today used mild force at three places to disperse stone-pelting groups of two communities in the old city here which witnessed communal flare-up over construction of a compound wall adjoining a place of worship last night.

The irate mob pelted stones at the police in the Kulsumpura area.

About 55 persons were taken into custody in connection with communal violence in which five persons were injured, including two in police firing since last night.

While 15 persons were booked under various IPC sections for indulging in arson and damaging properties of a particular community yesterday, 40 others were taken into custody today for violating prohibitory orders and indulging in stone- pelting, police sources said.

Prohibitory orders would continue in the areas of Tappachabutra and Kulsumpura police stations limits till further orders.

However, the situation is “little tense” but totally under control, city Police Commissioner R P Singh said.

Besides deploying additional force including RAF, intense patrolling has been launched in trouble-prone areas to maintain communal peace, he added. — PTI

Man kills ‘evil’ daughter

Siliguri, November 15
A man allegedly killed his one-year-old daughter, claiming that she was “evil”, in Uttar Dinajpur district, the police said today.

Muhammad Ali was arrested on November 12 on the basis of FIR lodged by his wife Alena Khatun and was remanded in judicial custody by the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate of Islampur court yesterday.

Alena, in her report, alleged that Ali, who wanted a male child, behaved cruelly with her and their daughter Afsana and claimed that the girl was “evil”.

On the night of November 12, Alena found her daughter missing. She became suspicious of Ali’s motives when she found him looking unconcerned.

Afsana’s body was found floating in a pond, which was recovered by villagers, she said.

Ali, during interrogation, confessed to his crime before the police and said he still believed that Afsana was “evil”. — PTI

Dawood’s aide arrested

Jaipur, November 15
Sayed Zulfikar Ali, alias Guddu, a key accomplice of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested in a case of loot from the city here yesterday, a senior police official said today.

Zulfikar, involved in at least 24 cases, including those of murder, abduction, and loot, was nabbed with two others, the Superintendent of Police (North) Anand Srivastava said.

Zulfikar was the main accused in the murder of Abdullah who was allegedly responsible for the killing of Gulshan Kumar of T-Series in Mumbai, the SP said.

Zulfikar (33) had been staying in Rajasthan since August this year.

He is a science graduate and speaks English Hindi and Urdu fluently, the SP said.

The Madhya Pradesh and Bombay Police have also confirmed Zulfikar's crime record and separate police teams would arrive here to interrogate him.

Cases of loot and under the Arms Act were filed against Zulfikar and a country-made pistol was recovered from him.

The two others arrested have been identified as Jitendra and Ikhawan Ahmed and the three had reportedly robbed a businessman after throwing chilly powder in his face. — PTI

Tulsi loses memory in soap, joins BJP

New Delhi, November 15
Television actress Smriti Z. Irani, who shot to fame for playing Tulsi in soap opera “Kyoon Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”, today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the runup to the December 1 Assembly elections.

The announcement of the 27-year-old TV actress to join the BJP was made by party General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in the presence of Maharashtra BJP Chief Gopinath Munde.

Smriti, he said, was the BJP’s answer to the “Videshi Bahu”, referring to Sonia Gandhi. She was given membership of the party by Pramod Mahajan earlier
in the day.

Asked if she had “strayed” into the BJP because Tulsi had lost her memory in the opera, Smriti shot back
saying that it was in fact her awareness about the BJP’s policies that prompted her
to join the party.

In a rare show of eloquence by a new entrant to politics, she said the BJP had promised her that she would be allowed to work in areas
beneficial to women, youth and children.

Asked whey she chose to take on Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Smriti said she rejected the idea of somebody of foreign origin leading the country.

Smriti has worked in several popular serials like “Kuch Dil Se”, “Ramayana”, “Kavita”, “Aatish” and “Zee Antakshari” and also several advertisement campaigns. — UNI

Judge’s kin succumbs to bullet injuries

Chennai, November 15
Venkatesan, a son-in-law of a retired Madras High Court Judge, Justice A. Raman, who was shot at on October 22, succumbed to bullet injuries today. The victim, a distributor of medicines, had came out to answer the door at his residence in Tiruchirapalli when an unidentified person shot at him from point blank range with a country-made revolver and escaped under the cover of darkness.

Venkatesan, who suffered a bullet injury in the right rib, was admitted to a private hospital in Tiruchirapalli before he was shifted to the Apollo Hospitals here on October 24. Despite best medical efforts, he died here this evening.

The shooting incident assumed significance as it had taken place a couple of days after the government appointed Justice Raman to probe into the controversial encounter killing of a gangster, Venkatesa Pannaiyar, who enjoyed enormous clout among the Nadar community.

Expressing deep shock and grief, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in a condolence message to Justice Raman, said the unfortunate circumstances under which Venkatesan was brutally attacked and shot at and the trauma of his prolonged battle against death must have taken a heavy emotional toll on him and the family. — UNI

Three held for landmine blast

Agartala, November 15
Three persons were nabbed following a massive combing operation in Dhalai district today where a Deputy Commandant of the BSF and his driver were killed and four jawans injured in a landmine blast last evening. The police said the arrested were being interrogated, while combing operations at Joshitilla and neighbouring tribal hamlets were on.

Top officials of the BSF and SP, Dhalai, D. Murugan are camping in the area. The Deputy Commandant of 37 Battalion BSF, Rakesh Mohan, and his driver died on the spot when a powerful landmine went off around 5.30 pm.

Four BSF jawans who were seriously wounded were today shifted from Kamalpur hospital to GB Hospital. — PTI

Nirankari Samagam begins
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 15
The three-day Nirankari Samagam began here today with a prayer for peace. Lakhs of devotees from across the world gathered at the samagam venue in Burari as head of the sect, Baba Hardev Singh, inaugurated the 56th annual samagam.

Baba Hardev Singh said, “Those who cannot safeguard the integrity of the country and the fabric of unity cannot be expected to serve mankind as a whole. Service to nation is service to humanity.” He was accompanied by his mother, Nirankari Rajmata Kulwant Kaur, and wife, Mata Sawinder Kaur. Mr Ashok Kumar Jain, Mayor of Delhi, welcomed Baba Hardev Singh.

10 killed as van, bus collide

Coimbatore, November 15
Ten persons, including two children and seven women, were killed on the spot and four injured when the van in which they were travelling collided with a private bus at Karungalpalayam in Erode today.

The victims were returning after attending a family function in Kangeyam and the bus was coming from Salem when the mishap occurred. — PTI