Wine contractors from Ludhiana district demonstrate at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on Saturday against the auction of liquor shops in Ludhiana district conducted by the Punjab Government recently. — Photo by Kamal Singh

Lawyers chargesheeted for attack on journalists
New Delhi, March 12
The Gujarat Government today informed the Supreme Court that the state police has chargesheeted 10 persons, including eight advocates, for attacking mediapersons after the exposure of the “cash-for-warrant” scam in a sting operation by a TV channel.

Cricket specials: sale of tickets from March 17
New Delhi, March 12
Sale of tickets for the first cricket special train for cricket lovers to Lahore will start from March 17. Announcing the special arrangements being made for the Delhi-Attari journey on March 19 and 22, the Northern Railway General Manager, Mr R.R. Jaruhar, said sale of tickets for the two special trains will commence from March 17 and 20, respectively.

Members of the All-India Muslim Youth Committee offer prayers for the victory of the Indian cricket team during its tour to Pakistan, in New Delhi on Friday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal.

Best Bakery case: SC admits Gujarat's appeal
New Delhi, March 12
The Supreme Court today admitted the Gujarat Government's appeal against the acquittal of all 21 accused in the Best Bakery carnage and said it would first examine whether a case is made out for retrial.

SC cancels Pappu Yadav’s bail
New Delhi, March 12
The Supreme Court today cancelled the bail of independent MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, in the dissolved Lok Sabha in a murder case.

New Delhi, March 12
Union Defence Minister and NDA convener George Fernandes said today that the alliance had decided to project Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the head of government again and the individual policies and programmes of the alliance partners “did not impinge on its agenda for governance.”

He said the NDA was close to finalising the first draft of the national agenda of governance, incorporating important changes and going beyond the areas covered so far in the political, economic and social spheres.

“If further action is needed, we will bring it on the agenda which will be unveiled at the end of this month,” he observed while talking to mediapersons here.

On the foreign origin issue of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, it was suggested to Mr Fernandes that the Vajpayee government was not serious about such persons holding high public offices.

The minister stressed that his party — the JD (U) — felt strongly about it. “It is an insult to the country. I feel humiliated when I go around the world. We have to correct it by law or amending the Constitution.”

He acknowledged that as the single largest entity in the NDA, the BJP was doing its own campaigning. “Nothing should be read into it or the Bharat Uday Yatra of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. The yatra should not be seen as a hidden agenda of the BJP,” he maintained.

If other NDA partners are not taking out such yatras, it was due to paucity of funds, the minister said, adding: “If there can be roadshows, why not yatras?”

Mr Fernandes said it was decided at a meeting last week that the NDA should have a “structured set-up”, which it has lacked during the past five years. There was a need for such a mechanism to process issues thrown up by the alliance partners, he added.

Expressing concern over certain alliance partners ditching the NDA, the minister had no doubt that realignments were bound to take place after the general election. “It is not a happy thing to happen, but one has to respect the reasons of the parties which have bid adieu to the NDA.”

Jaipur, March 12
BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu today challenged the Congress to a debate on the comparative performance of the Congress led governments of the 50 years and the Vajpayee government of the last five and half years.

Addressing newspersons during his one-day stay in the Rajasthan capital where he came to participate in the RSS annual convention, Mr Naidu made light of the Congress chargesheet saying it was not factual and not based on facts.

The BJP leader said the party would secure cent per cent Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan as a strong wave was building up in favour of the Vajpayee government.

The pro-incumbancy wave which will turn into a tornado by the time of voting would restore the Vajpayee government for another term, Mr Naidu claimed adding that the wave was all over the country.

The party would announce its first list of Lok Sabha candidates by Sunday evening, he said adding that all sitting MPs are not going to be renominated as their “winnability, performance, relationship with the party and state unit recommendations would play a role in deciding about the fate of the sitting member or a new face”.

New Delhi, March 12
As the Secular Front is not a pre-poll alliance, there is no question of projecting Congress President Sonia Gandhi or any other leader for prime ministership at the present juncture, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said here today.

Politburo member Prakash Karat told newspersons that “unlike the NDA, the opposition secular parties do not have a pre-poll national alliance, this is why it will not be proper to project any particular leader as the prime ministerial candidate. Besides, Ms Sonia Gandhi has herself said the issue should be left to the countrymen.”

The choice would depend on the situation arising out of post-poll scenario and the composition and character of the next Lok Sabha, he further said.

The BJP is all set to ensure that the electoral battle was fought on the Vajpayee versus Sonia and her foreign origin issue, while the Left parties poll campaign revolves around communalism versus secularism, the CPI(M) leader said.

New Delhi, March 12
India’s decision to take part in military exercises of the US-led NATO alliance in Alaska was strongly opposed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It said it was “one more step ahead in joining the global military alliance.”

Party Politburo member Prakash Karat told reporters that India was being targeted to join a proposed Asian-NATO combine, which was against world peace.

Reacting to the “growing military entanglement” of the country’s armed forces with the USA, he said the exercise was a part of the Washington’s larger design to spread its hegemony.

Even as Defence Minister George Fernandes has defended the decision saying that it would provide the Indian armed forces an exposure to newer technologies, he said :“We are opposed to any Indian participation in any such exercise.”

New Delhi, March 12
The BJP today charged the Congress and the PDP of “conspiring” on the issue of J and K Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill, 2004 and threatened to launch a countrywide agitation for the withdrawal of the “cruel and draconian” Bill.

“The BJP views this entire episode as a “conspiracy” to put the issue in cold storage,” BJP Spokesperson M A Naqvi told mediapersons here.

“The Congress, which on one hand is opposing the Bill outside Jammu and Kashmir, is at the same time clandestinely supporting the issue within the state. This is a proof of the double standards adopted by the party not only in case of women’s issues but also about other national issues,” he said.

“Be it the case of Shah Bano or the current Bill in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress always adopts a double stance and then tires to create confusion,” Mr Naqvi said.

Demanding that Bill should be withdrawn, he said the BJP would launch a public movement all over the country in this regard and expose the Congress’ role in it.

New Delhi, March 12
From the sublime to the ridiculous. That just about sums up the Congress party’s hunt for candidates for the coming Lok Sabha election.

Take the case of Punjab itself. Having failed to persuade former finance minister Manmohan Singh to contest from Ludhiana, Punjab Congress is now considering former romantic hero Rajesh Khanna for this seat.

Keen on having Dr Manmohan Singh as a candidate from Punjab, the state party unit and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had offered a choice of Ludhiana or Jalandhar seats to him. The Chief Minister had even met the former finance minister twice to persuade him to take on the battle. Dr Manmohan Singh, however, declined on health grounds.

Having failed on this front, the party has started a fresh hunt for a suitable candidate for Ludhiana and Jalandhar seats.

While former hockey player Pargat Singh is a front-runner for the Jalandhar seat, the field appears to be wide open in Ludhiana. After being rejected by several other personalities, former film star and one-time Congress MP Rajesh Khanna now heads the popularity charts for this seat.

Party sources said they had zeroed in on Rajesh Khanna as a probable after former cricket hero Kapil Dev and singer Gurdas Mann also declined to accept the Congress offer. It is learnt that Punjab Congress had also been negotiating with film actress Poonam Dhillon for the Ludhiana seat but she subsequently defected to the BJP when the proposal of her candidature got a lukewarm response from the party leadership.

Adding a touch of the mythical to its campaign, the Congress is turning to Lord Ram to bail it out in Krishnabhoomi Mathura. UP Congress sources maintained that they were serious about fielding Arun Govil from this constituency though negotiations with him are yet to be finalised.

It is raining film stars in West Bengal as well, the land of Tagore and Satyajit Ray. Kolkata is all set to witness a star-spangled battle if reports emanating from the Congress camp are anything to go by. Film star and a must-see at all social dos in Delhi and Kolkata’s water baby, Nafisa Ali, is being pitted against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee from Calcutta North.

Former film star Moushmi Chatterjee, who joined the Congress only recently, is a likely candidate for the Calcutta North West seat while Moon Moon Sen, daughter of the legendary Suchitra Sen, is being considered as a Congress candidate for the Jadavpur constituency.

Mumbai, March 12
Revelations that India’s major political parties could have paid lakhs of rupees to top-ranking movie stars to campaign in the forthcoming elections have kicked up a storm in Bollywood.

An investigative report by an afternoon tabloid states that some of the big names in films and television have been paid as much as Rs 25 lakh to campaign for a few days. While some of the stars have been paid a lumpsum amount for the duration of the entire election campaign, others are charging on a daily basis.

Though most of the movie stars featuring in Mid-day’s news report have denied having received money from the major parties, actor Sunil Shetty has kicked up a storm by publicly admitting the cash-for-campaign nexus between Bollywood stars and politicians.

Shetty has gone public stating that several political parties have approached his secretary in order to swing deals with the movie star. “People call my secretary and offer him money but we do not entertain such people,” Shetty told television channels here.

Shetty has campaigned for candidates cutting across party lines in the Shiv Sena, Congress and other parties. He however maintains that he campaigns for friends regardless of their political affiliations and that too for free.

In their bid to woo the stars from tinsel town, political parties have activated their film and television cells. The Congress roped in Alok ‘Chikky’ Pandey, brother of actor Chunky Pandey to head the cell. MP and socialite T. Subbarami Reddy and Mumbai MP Sunil Dutt are other contacts of the Congress Party in Bollywood.

New Delhi, March 12
The Election Commission today banned political parties and candidates from putting up posters on private or public buildings and advised them to avoid using plastic or polythene in campaign material.

“No political party, association or body or candidates or their workers, supporters or sympathisers have any right to deface or spoil any private or public building by pasting their posters, writing slogans or painting symbols,’’ the commission said in a letter to the Chief Electoral Officers.

Kolkata, March 12
The Election Commission has asked the Home Ministry to seal the borders along Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to ensure free and fair elections in the border states.

The Election Commission wants special security measures to be adopted against infiltration and other criminal activities in states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland, Assam and Manipur.

According Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Mr Basudev Bandopadhyya, the Centre as well as the state governments have been directed to tighten security in the border areas. The District Magistrates have been told to ban all free movement along the borders. The BSF has been asked to set up additional check-posts at vulnerable places near the Bangladesh and Bhutan borders.

New Delhi, March 12
The Gujarat Government today informed the Supreme Court that the state police has chargesheeted 10 persons, including eight advocates, for attacking mediapersons after the exposure of the “cash-for-warrant” scam in a sting operation by a TV channel.

The Advocate General of the state informed a three-judge Bench, headed by the Chief Justice, Mr V N Khare, that the chargesheet was filed yesterday before a Metropolitan Magistrate at Meganinager in Ahmedabad.

The apex court had sought details from the Gujarat Government earlier about the action against the advocates for alleged attack on some TV journalists after a PIL was filed by 129 Gujarat-based journalists seeking professional protection against such assaults.

However, the Bench turned down a request from the counsel Kamini Jaiswal for the transfer of the case from Maganinagar to another place saying that the court is monitoring the case.

Gujarat’s Criminal Bar Association, however, tendered an apology in the court for the assault on mediapersons, terming the incident as “unfortunate”.

The court reminded the Bar Association that the lawyers were in a nobel profession and they should not allow their image to be tarnished due to the “misdeeds of a few black sheep”.

New Delhi, March 12
Sale of tickets for the first cricket special train for cricket lovers to Lahore will start from March 17.

Announcing the special arrangements being made for the Delhi-Attari journey on March 19 and 22, the Northern Railway General Manager, Mr R.R. Jaruhar, said sale of tickets for the two special trains will commence from March 17 and 20, respectively.

Ticket counters will remain open from 8am to 8pm. Tickets for the return journey can also be purchased. Tickets will cover the journey from Delhi to Attari and from Attari to Lahore. Pakistan Railways will run a train from Attari to Lahore.

The fare from Delhi to Lahore will be Rs 164 for general class, Rs 259 for sleeper class and Rs 607 for AC 3 tier.

Tickets for general class will be available at counter No 26 and 27 in the east wing booking office at the Delhi main station. Tickets for AC and sleeper class will be available at counter No 421 and 422 at west wing reservation office.

The train will leave Delhi at 9.50pm and reach Attari at 7.15am the next day. The train will stop at Amritsar at 6am and depart for Attari at 6.30am. Northern Railway will open special counters at the Amritsar station to enable passengers without reservations but with valid passports, visas and tickets for the Lahore matches to board the train.

The fare structure for passengers boarding the train at Amritsar is yet to be worked out but it is expected to be Rs 66, including the Rs 50 fare from Attari to Lahore.

Mr Jaruhar said passengers must bring their passports, visas and tickets for the matches. Northern Railway will endorse the match ticket while issuing the railway ticket. “We are not anticipating any trouble. Tickets will only be issued to persons who have valid documents.

New Delhi, March 12
The Supreme Court today admitted the Gujarat Government's appeal against the acquittal of all 21 accused in the Best Bakery carnage and said it would first examine whether a case is made out for retrial.

Issuing notices to the accused, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Doraiswamy Raju and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat tagged Gujarat's special leave petition (SLP) with that of Zaheera Sahikh, whose nine family members were among 14 burnt alive in the bakery in the aftermath of Godhra train carnage.

New Delhi, March 12
The Supreme Court today cancelled the bail of independent MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, in the dissolved Lok Sabha in a murder case.

Yadav, who has recently joined former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s outfit Lok Janshakti Party, is a prime accused in the June 14, 1998 murder of trade union leader Ajit Sarkar.

Cancelling the bail of Yadav, who represented Purnea from Bihar, a Bench of Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice B P Singh directed the CBI to immediately take Yadav into custody.

The apex court flayed the Patna High Court for granting bail to Yadav by ignoring its earlier verdict of July 2001 when his bail plea was rejected.

New Delhi, March 12
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and the CBI on a fresh public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a probe in the case of corruption in the golden quadrilateral project in Bihar apart from the murder of Satyendra Dubey, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) engineer who had exposed the corruption.

New Delhi, March 12
External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today expressed outrage at the terrorist strikes in trains and stations in Spanish capital Madrid yesterday and said it was time for the world to reject such attacks against innocent people.