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SC rejects CBI plea for blood sample of Punjabi
NRI in murder case Mayawati keeps her options open
First list of Congress candidates likely today Bommai group to join NDA Cong ‘confused’ about feel good factor |
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Manmohan reluctant to enter poll fray BJP govt alone can resolve issues with Pak: Advani Pak positive to ongoing talks with India: Jamali 1 more held for AIIMS paper leak 20 Iraqi kids arrive in India for treatment Moon
mission can pave way for Mars mission: Kalam 6 undertrials escape Court gives nod for narco test on Telgi
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SC rejects CBI plea for blood sample of Punjabi New Delhi, February 28 Allowing an appeal of Narinder Singh Bogarh, whom the Canadian police considered a suspect in the October 31, 1986, murder of his wife Saminder Kaur Bpgarj in Veronon, British Columbia, on the basis of some blood samples collected from the spot, which were believed to be his, the apex court set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order, allowing the CBI to record his statement and take his blood sample to be sent to Canada. “We are in agreement with the contention of counsel for appellant (Bogarh) that the request of the Canadian authorities makes it specific that his statement as well the blood sample should be obtained voluntarily,” a Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice B. P. Singh ruled. The Judicial Magistrate of Patiala had allowed the CBI to take the blood sample of Bogarh in an order passed in March, 2001, and it was upheld both by the Sessions Court as well as the high court. He had challenged the same in the apex court on the ground that as per the Canadian law, a person could not be forced to make a statement or give sample of his blood if he was not willing. The apex court took into account the fact that on an earlier occasion when his statement and blood sample was obtained by the Canadian Police under “compulsion”, it was rejected by the prosecuting agency of that country, which said “it was impermissible under their law.” “The courts below have failed to notice this aspect of the case and proceeded to apply the provisions of Section 166-B of the CrPC erroneously. Therefore, in our view, the impugned orders of the courts below are unsustainable,” the Bench ruled. But the apex court made clear that it had decided the case purely on merits without giving any opinion on the correct interpretation of Section 166-B of the CrPC as the issue before it was only the contents of the letter of request from the Canadian Government. |
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Mayawati keeps her options open New Delhi, February 28 Sources said a tacit electoral understanding with the Congress cannot be entirely ruled out at this stage though purposefully rather tactically she is emitting contrary signals. That is why, she lashed out at the Congress at the rally in Patna on Thursday. Her strategy is to keep people guessing about her final decision, the sources pointed out adding that the BSP leader would reveal her mind only after nomination process begins. Ms Mayawati’s main objective is to reduce the strength of her arch rival Mulyam Singh Yadav whose Samajwadi Party won 27 Lok Sabha seats in 1999 and at the same time to increase the strength of the BSP in the Lok Sabha so that she could play a pivotal role in the next government at the Centre. While one group of her advisers are saying that in any electoral alliance, it was the BSP which was transferring votes to the other party, the other group is contending that the BSP would be a loser in a four-cornered fight, the BJP had an
upper hand. With this in mind, Ms Mayawati had conveyed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi that she would not give more than 25 seats to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. She has given clearance to about 40 candidates to start working in their respective constituencies, the sources said. Though the BSP leader is not divulging her mind to anyone, the sources said that Ms Mayawati listens to some retired and serving bureaucrats like retired IAS officer Mata Prasad and DIG Devi Singh Ashok. Others include her former Principal Secretary P.L. Punia, retired IAS officer S.D. Bagla and IPS officer Vijay Singh who is presently holding a rank of IG in the CID. But while she listens to everybody, the sources said that barring Mr Punia and Mr Bagla nobody can influence her. After her meeting with party leaders last Sunday in Lucknow, she indicated that in case there was no tie up with the Congress then an ex-PCS officer Gayadeen, who retired as Commissioner (Trade Tax), might contest from Rae Bareli which was held by Capt Satish Sharma of the Congress. She said that similarly Mr Chandra Prakash Mishra would be fielded from Amethi. The sources said her list comprised more non-Dalit candidates from unreserved constituencies which would have about 25 Muslim, 10 Brahmins and 8 Thakur candidates. |
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First list of Congress candidates likely today New Delhi, February 28 The exercise will be kickstarted with the scrutiny of the recommendations forwarded by the pradesh election committees and the screening committees of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh, having a total of 94 seats. The first list of candidates may be finalised tomorrow, enabling the candidates to begin their campaign at the earliest. Although Orissa is not slated to figure in tomorrow’s discussions, a section in the state unit has suggested that former Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao be asked to contest from his old constituency, Behrampore. CWC member in charge of Orissa, Mr Digvijay Singh, is learnt to have conveyed this recommendation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He is also expected to meet Mr Rao on March 1 to assess whether he is keen on running for the Lok Sabha again. The Congress, will contest 10 seats in Tamil Nadu this time, as per its agreement with the DMK. The party plans to field candidates for all seats in West Bengal although it is expected that it will forgo at least six seats once its electoral tie-up with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is finalised. When the CEC takes up the West Bengal list tomorrow, it will have to decide whether senior leader Pranab Mukherjee, presently a Rajya Sabha member, should contest from the Jangipur seat. Although Mr Mukherjee has never contested a Lok Sabha election, there is a strong view in the party that senior leaders should be fielded as it will give the election a higher profile. The election committee will also have to contend with an unusual situation, with its state leaders backing the Trinamool Congress candidate for the Calcutta North-West constituency. Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee has allotted this seat to local INTUC leader Subroto Mukherjee. |
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Bommai group to join NDA Bangalore, February 28 AIPJD president S. R. Bommai, in the company of the NDA convener and Defence Minister George Fernandes, announced at a press conference here that his party would join hands with the NDA and seat-sharing arrangement would be discussed later. Mr Bommai ruled out AIPJD merging with the Janata Party, declaring that the party’s identity would be maintained. He said it had become inevitable for the AIPJD to go with the NDA, but rejected a suggestion that it was opportunistic politics. Meanwhile, Mr Fernandes kept alive speculations on his reported moves to woo former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior state Congress leader S Bangarappa into the NDA fold. Speaking to reporters at Mr Bommai’s residence, he confirmed that he had discussions with
Bangarappa. But Fernandes refused to share the details or the nature of his talks with
Bangarappa.
— PTI |
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Cong ‘confused’ about feel good factor New Delhi, February 28 “Congress leadership is in utter confusion about its own economic policies. It is not sure whether it should condemn the feel good factor or appropriate it by taking some credit. There are confusing signals from that party,” Union Minister Arun Jaitley said at a BJP Chartered Accountants’ cell meeting here. “From the days when it had commented sarcastically in Parliament about the NDA government’s GDP projections at eight per cent as Mungeri Lal’s dreams, the party itself has claimed to have set a 10 per cent growth target now,” the Commerce Minister said. On reports alleging the involvement of some Congress leaders in the poor response to public issues of PSUs initially, Mr Jaitley said he was not aware of it but supported the pro-active approach taken by Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie in the matter. He said it was “courageous on the part of Mr Shourie to come up with the issues just ahead of the poll. He had great faith in the investment ability of the small investors which is well reflected now in the response to the IPOs.” |
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Manmohan reluctant to enter poll fray New Delhi, February 28 Ms Soni has been suggested for the Hoshiarpur seat and Dr Singh is being persuaded to contest from Ludhiana. The pradesh election committee has forwarded the names of candidates to the central screening committee, which has held several rounds of discussions and the list will now go to the Central Election Committee for final scrutiny. Dr Karan Singh, who heads the Punjab screening committee, is learnt to have spoken to Dr. Singh and apprised him of the state unit’s views. The former Finance Minister, a sitting Rajya Sabha member, is being persuaded although he appears reluctant because of his poor health. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has also met Dr. Singh in this connection and offered the Ludhiana seat to him. Ms Soni, on the other hand, is reported to have left the final decision to party president Sonia Gandhi. Although the decision on all sitting MPs has been left to Ms Gandhi, the Punjab Congress believes that fresh candidates should be fielded from Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur as the party is not too well placed in these three constituencies. Former hockey star Pargat Singh is among the names being considered for the Jalandhar seat to take on the SAD-BJP combine candidate Naresh Gujral, son of former Prime Minister I.K.Gujral. The state unit has also recommended that former minister Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder be fielded from Gurdaspur and sitting MP Jagmeet Singh Brar be repeated from Faridkot. |
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BJP govt alone can resolve issues with Pak: Advani
New Delhi, February 28 Elaborating his “Akhand Bharat” slogan, he said it did not mean that “we wanted the merger of Pakistan with India. Both are sovereign nations and will retain their sovereignty.” “We want that both the countries should live in peace and harmony and even people in Pakistan are in favour of that,” Mr Advani said, releasing a set of five books published by the India First Foundation. “The development for improving relations between the two countries have come when the BJP-led government is at the Centre. I recall the visit of a British High Commissioner to Pakistan who, during his visit to India, had predicted that it will be only BJP government which will definitely lead to the improvement of relations between the two countries,” he said. “We know that solution to 50 years cannot come overnight, but we have already initiated efforts for the normalisation of ties between the two countries,” Mr Advani said. Elaborating his confederation slogan, the Deputy Prime Minister said, “We should look at Europe. All countries are sovereign but part of a union.” “We also believe in peaceful co-existence with our neighbour where both the countries should concentrate on their development and work for a better relation,” he said. — PTI |
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Pak positive to ongoing talks with India: Jamali New Delhi, February 28 Asked whether the two-nation theory was still valid, he said “I think the two-nation theory has become a one-nation theory. It was over half a century ago. And whichever nation is there, that is there today.”
— PTI |
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1 more held for AIIMS paper leak New Delhi, February 28 The AIPGMEE is the entrance examination for postgraduate medical education in the country and is conducted under the supervision of AIIMS. With the arrest of Dhirender Singh, the agency has arrested six persons for stealing and leaking the question paper of the prestigious medical examination in the country. The CBI said investigations revealed that the question paper was stolen from the strong room of the examination centre in Lucknow where the test was conducted on January 6, 2002. The question paper was photocopied and passed on to the candidates in exchange for handsome amount of money. The agency suspects that some more persons may be involved in the leakage of the question paper and efforts were on to trace beneficiaries of the leakage of the question paper including some of the candidates. |
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20 Iraqi kids arrive in India for treatment Chennai, February 28 The children, including one girl, in the age group of three to seven, will undergo surgery for ‘blue-baby syndrome’ in which the supply of oxygen to the blood is alarmingly depleted. “We have come here because most of the equipment at the Ben Al Biter Hospital in Baghdad has been stolen after the bombing in the battle,” said Atheir, aunt of three-year-old Kharar Haider, whose treatment will begin from March 1. Atheir, who was working as a nurse there, said the hospital in Baghdad was very good until it was badly damaged in the bombing. Hailing from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and Wasit, about 120 km west, these children have been brought here by an evangelical institution Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) of New York with the help of a Hyderabad-based NGO ‘Operation Blessing’ which bore their entire travel cost. The condition of all 20 children was “extreme spectrum” or complicated, according to cardiologist Dr K. N. Cherian, who would operate upon the kids at the International Centre for Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Diseases here. “All clinical tests and diagnoses have been done on them in different US hospitals before being brought here,” Dr Cherian said. Thousands of Iraqi children hailing from poor families suffer from the blue-baby syndrome, Dr Ross MCcordic, a US-based paediatrician currently working in Jordan and who has come here, along with a nurse, to assist Dr Cherian’s team of doctors, said. Twenty-eight more children are also likely to be brought here, Dr Cherian said, asking the Indian Government to extend free treatment to these kids just as it had done in the case of four children from Pakistan last year.
— UNI |
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Moon mission can pave way for Mars New Delhi, February 28 “I am convinced that Mars will become a sought after planet for human exploration of wealth and habitat in a few decades,” he said in his address on Science Day over All India Radio. In this direction, “India’s moon mission can pave the way for the next challenging mission to Mars,” he said. The President said the world space community would realise the necessity for international cooperation for exploring Mars in future and “India by her unique position in the world of space research would be able to contribute to this cooperation by sharing technologies, research and astronauts.”
— PTI |
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6 undertrials escape Nawada, Bihar, February 28 Police sources said the escapees belonged to the notorious Ashok Mahto-gang and they escaped by scaling a lockup wall. They were facing trial on charges of kidnapping, murder and robbery. About 40 undertrials were taken to the court for producing them before the magistrate. Police sources said they had sealed key exit routes.
— UNI |
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Court gives nod for narco test on Telgi Bangalore, February 28 In his order today, Special Judge A. T. Manoli said StampIT could conduct the test on Telgi at the Forensic Science Laboratory here on March 3. The judge also said if required the procedure could be conducted on subsequent days too. Telgi has already undergone the narco-analysis test — a procedure which involves the administration of the so-called truth drug sodium pentathol to induce a state of semi-consciousness.
— UNI |
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15 get life term for bomb blasts on trains Ajmer, February 28 Judge V.K. Mathur convicted the accused under TADA besides provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substance Act, the Arms Act, and the Railways Act and sentenced them to various terms, including life term for bomb blasts on five trains. — PTI |
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Chavan cremated with honours Nanded, February 28 |
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