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Mulayam backs
down on school order Kathait cremated,
bandh in Tehri Sonia shares roti
with Dalit Software for poll
management Jaya’s news
channel proposal cleared D.P. Yadav, Malik
join BJP Nicks in Sukhoi
‘not’ serious |
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Co-accused in Phoolan
murder case commits suicide
Pak baraat
arrives Sajal Jain’s
bail pleas rejected Deportation orders Gen J.J. Singh visits Headquarters
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Mulayam backs down on school order
Lucknow, February 20 The announcement rescinding the order was made by the Chief Minister in the Assembly while replying to the debate on budget proposals. However, the government authorised the District Magistrates to take a decision in this regard at the local level in consultation with the district school authorities, especially in predominantly Muslim areas. “The Government Order regarding closing the government schools and colleges (up to intermediate level) at 12.00 noon on Fridays has been scrapped,” Mr Yadav said in the Assembly. He said that new order had been issued authorising the District Magistrates to issue appropriate orders in consultation with the District Inspectors of School and the District Basic Education Officers, especially for the Muslim dominated areas. The District Magistrates can use their discretion. An order issued on February 16, without stating any reason, had directed all government schools and colleges up to intermediate level affiliated to the UP board to conduct the teaching work only till 12.00 noon on every Friday. The decision had drawn flak from the BJP, which said it was a “politically motivated” move to woo the minorities. BJP state president Vinay Katiyar termed it as a move aimed at “communalising” education and demanded a similar relaxation be made on Tuesdays to help Hindus offer prayers at temples.
— PTI |
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Kathait cremated, bandh in Tehri
Old Tehri (Uttaranchal), February 20 Hundreds of people turned up at the cremation of Kathait Gambhir as his cousin lit the pyre. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has condoled the death of Gambhir Kathait. The PM has also sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh from the Prime Minister Relief Fund. Kathait committed self-immolation on Saturday last during a torch light procession in New Tehri town demanding the withdrawal of CBI cases against those who participated in the Uttarakhand separate statehood movement in the nineties. A pall of gloom descended in Kathai’s hometown Tehri where all government offices, commercial establishments and schools and colleges were closed as a mark of respect to the former student leader. Most parts of the state observed a bandh in response to a call by the ruling Congress. The work on 2400-MW Tehri dam project was also affected today due to the closure of government offices. Earlier, the body of Kathait was brought to his native town from New Delhi during the wee hours. Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari has announced that he will not participate in any public function for the next three days as mark of respect to the departed student leader. However, the bandh failed to evoke
response in the Kumaon region including Nainital. But Nainital district administration has declared a two-day holiday for schools and colleges as a precautionary measure.
— Agencies |
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Bhadohi, February 20 “Have you cooked something today,” she asked Lalita Devi at Vedpur village, dominated by Dalits. Lalita went inside her house and returned with a roti and onion. Ms Sonia Gandhi then shared the roti with her. When she came to know that one of Lalita’s children was physically challenged, the Congress chief asked the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president to arrange for the treatment of the child. Ms Gandhi, who spent the night at Mirzapur, also offered prayers at the famous Vindhyavasini temple and paid obeisance at the mazar of Khwaja Nooruddin Chisti and offered a “chaddar”. Continuing her mass contact programme, she visited a number of villages on her way to Bhadohi and mingled with the villagers inquiring about their well being.
— PTI |
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Software for poll management New Delhi, February 20 The system, when installed on candidates’ computers, will spoonfeed them of every minute detail about their constituencies. Shah Nizamuddin’s promised short cut to constituency homework has already attracted the attention of former Railway Minister and sitting Congress MP from Bangalore (North)
C.K. Jaffer Sharief, Congress MLA from Mysore city Tanveer Seth and Rahman Khan, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, Rahman Khan.
Nizamuddin who heads a private infotech company, claims that his system is a more methodical replacement of the haphazard functioning of poll managers. The system will save aspiring candidates the trouble of relying on their poll managers. The politicians will have to pay anything between Rs 15,000 to Rs 45,000 for the software, depending on the extent of field work. |
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Jaya’s news channel proposal cleared New Delhi, February 20 It was at the intervention of Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani that the green light was given to Jaya TV last week to beam its news round the clock. This is being viewed as Ms Jayalalithaa’s
birthday gift as Jaya TV is keen to kick off the 24-hour news channel on
February 24. Jaya TV has been pursuing beaming news in the run-up to the general election. It assumes significance in the light of the no-holds barred competition with Sun TV which is the main rival of Jaya TV and espouses the cause of the DMK. The issue of permitting Jaya TV permission to beam news round the clock has been hanging fire for more than two years because of certain allegations about the regional networks’s managing director
T.T.V. Dinakaran, who was also a former AIADMK MP. The Home Ministry had desired that Mr Dinakaran should resign from his post in the regional TV network as there were allegations of FERA violations against him. As this was complied with, the Centre felt there was no need to drag the matter further and Mr Advani gave the requisite green light. Thereafter, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting wasted no time in giving the go ahead to Jaya TV. Ms Jayalalithaa had not only spoken about the proposal over the telephone to Mr Advani, but also to Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh
as FERA violations come within the purview of the latter. |
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D.P. Yadav, Malik join BJP New Delhi, February 20 Mr Naidu himself received the initial membership fee from Mr Yadav, Mr Malik and Mr
Khatri. He said that "he is better than Mulyam Singh Yadav and Laloo Yadav". Mr Yadav claimed that there were no criminal cases against him. Mr Yadav's son Vikas Yadav is allegedly facing criminal charges in the
'Nitesh Katara' murder case. |
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Nicks in Sukhoi ‘not’ serious New Delhi, February 20 Writing to the Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla following concern expressed by him over the high rate of engine failure of the Russian-made fighters in course of a special mention in the House recently, the minister also said prompt action had been initiated on the recovery of the affected engines on a fast-track basis. Assuring the MP that the Su-30 fighter fleet was never grounded due to engine problems, he said some engines of the aircraft inducted into the IAF in 1999 were found to have nicks during routine checks. He added that two of the SU-30 squadron had been repaired and the balance engines would be repaired shortly. “I am given to understand that the IAF had promptly initiated action for the recovery of the engines on a fast-track basis”, he told the MP in a letter. Mr Fernandes pointed out that the SU-30 contract was concluded in 1996 after evaluating the aircraft and that these aircraft were accepted by the IAF after detailed flight checks as per the established procedure. |
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Private plane booked for Advani New Delhi, February 20 "The BJP has booked an aircraft with a capacity to seat six to eight persons for use by the Deputy Prime Minister for the coming Lok Sabha elections," party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan told newspersons here. Mr Mahajan, who attended a meeting of political parties convened by the Election Commission, said though the issue was raised by some political parties the commission said it was not a proper issue to be raised. Meanwhile, the Election Commission said it was examining the request about the aircraft for Mr Advani. |
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Co-accused in Phoolan
murder case commits suicide New Delhi, February 20 The prime suspect in the Phoolan Devi murder case, Sher Singh Rana, escaped from the same jail a few days ago. The police is trying to trace him. The warder of jail number three filed a report this morning that the co-accused had consumed phenyl. He was taken to hospital by Dr Akbar where he was declared dead. The post-mortem report of the co-accused mentioned that he had consumed “unknown poison”. |
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CCS briefed on Indo-Pak talks New Delhi, February 20 |
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Bundi (Rajasthan),
February 20 The band played the tune of the popular Hindi film song “Badi door se aaye hain, pyar ka tohfa laaye hain” as city girl Anjum Ara married Javed Iqbal of the Pakistani port city. Celebrations continued late into the night. Anjum and Iqbal were to wed on January 1, 2002, but the wedding was delayed as travel links between the two countries were snapped following the attack on Parliament. The couple will spend some time in the city, till Anjum gets a Pakistani visa. However, many of the groom’s close relatives could not attend the wedding as their travel documents could not be prepared in time for the wedding.
— UNI |
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Sajal Jain’s bail pleas rejected
Ahmedabad, February 20 Additional Sessions Judge B.S. Parikh observed that granting bail to the prime accused at a time when the investigation was in a crucial phase, could adversely affect the probe. Jain had filed two bail pleas, one regular and another temporary, to attend an MBA entrance examination in Delhi from February 24-27. Jain, son of a Delhi-based businessman, was arrested on January 15 from the national Capital for his alleged involvement in the gangrape. The victim had allegedly committed suicide on January 7. Over half-a-dozen persons had been arrested in connection with the sensational case.
— UNI |
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New Delhi, February 20 This information was contained in an affidavit filed by the Centre in compliance with an earlier order of the court. In another affidavit, the Centre also informed the court that similar deportation orders had been issued in respect of seven Pakistani children who were detained in observation homes after they strayed into the Indian territory.
— UNI |
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Gen
J.J. Singh visits Headquarters New Delhi, February 20 |
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Under attack from the BJP and the Sangh
Parivar, the Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh today withdrew its
controversial order to close teaching work in government schools and
intermediate colleges by noon on Fridays to facilitate Muslims to offer prayers.
Bhadohi, February 20
In the new found bonhomie between the
BJP-led NDA government and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, the Centre
has cleared the AIADMK supremo’s long pending proposal for a 24-hour news
channel.
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