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Lucknow incident criminal, says Cong 5 Best Bakery accused freed Varun for law to bar foreigners from M.S. Gill takes a
dig at ‘India Shining’ campaign
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BJP begins second phase of campaign
from Thursday BJP to study SC order on ads Nine take oath as RS members PM must ask Modi to quit, says Cong Nashik press GM sacked for helping Telgi Karan Singh loses legal battle for ancestral
jewellery Rs 30,000 recovered from gangrape victim in court Malaysian
cargo vessel sinks Amitabh’s mother hospitalised 10 lakh take dip on first Ardh Kumbh Relief for kin of killed pilgrims
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Lucknow incident criminal, says Cong New Delhi, April 13 Holding BJP leader Lalji Tandon responsible for this “rash and negligent act,” the Congress said the Prime Minister’s close associate should be prosecuted. The transfer of a mere sub-inspector would not suffice, Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal said today. While seeking action against Mr Tandon, Mr Sibal also accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayum Singh Yadav of trying to “protect” the culprits in the Lucknow tragedy. He said the manner in which Mr Yadav had downplayed the incident gave the impression that the “administration is not acting in the way it should and that there is an attempt to protect the culprits.” He, however, ruled out the withdrawal of support to the Samajwadi Party government “at the moment” as it was a political decision. The Lucknow incident, on the other hand, was a criminal case, Mr Sibal said, adding that the Congress would like the law to take its course in this particular case. Stating that this was a “rash and negligent act,” as the organisers had not taken permission from the authorities but had also violated the prohibitory orders in force there. Drawing Mr Yadav’s attention to these facts, the Congress spokesperson urged him to take action in this case. He said his party, however, suspected that Mr Yadav did not want to take action in this case. Besides being a criminal offence, Mr Sibal said yesterday’s incident also showed the hollowness of the BJP’s claim that “India is shining.” He said the Lucknow incident was not an ordinary happening as it had taken place in the Prime Minister’s constituency, where so many women were killed while trying to collect a Rs 40 sari. |
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Toll 22; case registered
Lucknow, April 13 Police sources said the toll in the incident mounted to 22 after a child, injured in the stampede at the function organised in Mahanagar area on the occasion of BJP leader Lalji Tandon’s birthday, died last night.
— PTI |
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Oppn politicising stampede: BJP New Delhi, April 13 “There will be no celebrations. It will be a simple and toned-down affair and even the public meeting scheduled for that day has been cancelled in view of the incident,” party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told newspersons here. BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu and General Secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, besides state unit leaders, are expected to accompany the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, expressing shock over the Lucknow tragedy, the party refuted the Opposition charge before the Election Commission that it had violated the model code of conduct by distributing free sarees in the Prime Minister’s constituency. Earlier, Biswajeet, film actor of yesteryears, joined the BJP here, saying he was impressed by the BJP-led NDA government’s performance at the Centre in the past five years. |
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5 Best Bakery accused freed Vadodara, April 13 The police had picked up Sanjay Thakkar, Ravi Rajaram Chouhan, Mafat Manilal Gohil, Jayant Jamsinh Gohil and Jagdish Chunilal Rajput from Hanuman Tekri and its neighbouring areas following orders of Police Commissioner S.K. Sinha that all 21 accused should report to the police station immediately under Section 68 of the Bombay Police Act. Mr Sinha said he had issued the orders as the police had anticipated that the fresh warrants against the accused would arrive here over fax. They, however, had learnt that the orders would take another four days to arrive and so, the detainees were set free, the police chief added. Soon after the apex court had pronounced its judgement, police teams were sent to the residences of all 21 people to establish their whereabouts. Some were reportedly staying at their place of work, while others, fearing re-arrest, had fled, the Police Commissioner said. Mr Sinha clarified that since all of them had been acquitted by the trial court, and the high court had also upheld the former’s judgement, the police could not take any action until arrest warrants were issued by the court. In September last year, the Gujarat High Court had ordered the issuance of bailable warrants against the 21 acquitted by the trial court when the state government filed an amended criminal appeal, seeking re-trial of the case. Later, all of them surrendered before the police, only to be released on bail by the same trial court of Justice H.U. Mahida, by furnishing sureties of Rs 10,000 each as per the high court directive.
— UNI |
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Varun for law to bar foreigners from high offices
New Delhi, April 13 Varun, who recently joined the party along with mother Maneka Gandhi, criticised the Congress, saying the party was not sure about its prime-ministerial candidate and “probably it is a ghost who has not been seen; nor his or her name heard.” “I am fully supportive of any legislation barring persons of foreign origin from holding top posts,” he said while inaugurating the election office of the party’s candidate from Delhi Sadar, Mr Vijay Geol.
— PTI |
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M.S. Gill takes a
dig at ‘India Shining’ campaign New Delhi, April 13 However, the former CEC refused to comment whether the distribution of sarees at the function marked to celebrate the birthday of BJP leader Lalji Tandon was a violation of the model code of conduct or not. “I am no longer in the Election Commission. There are three good men who are competent enough to judge. It is not correct for me to comment. They are concerned and are looking at it,” Mr Gill told reporters. In his new avatar as Congress member from Punjab, Mr Gill said “for a Rs-100 saree, these women lost their lives. It also speaks about their plight and living conditions. We are living in the 21st Century and look at their miserable condition.” Deriding the personal attacks on Congress President Sonia Gandhi by BJP leaders, he said, “This should not happen. There should not be a shadow-boxing just for votes.” To another question on how he would feel sitting side by side in the House with some persons who had cases registered against them, Mr Gill, who had always opposed criminalisation of politics during his tenure as the Chief Election Commissioner, said it was a burden on all political parties and they were trying to keep them out. There must be “shakti sunne ki, shakti bolne ki, lekin shakti shor ki nahi,” (There must be strength to speak, strength to listen but not to make noise), he said, adding that leaders of political parties sat on opposite sides and they could not do anything about it. He was referring to the frequent adjournments and indiscipline in the House. Describing Parliament as the “highest office in the country,” the former Chief Election Commissioner described his becoming a member of the Upper House as his “greatest achievement.” “This is a new role which life has thrown my way. I am a new boy in this class. I will try to learn and contribute,” he said. Calling it a “sacred space of the Indian people,” he said 100 crore people were reduced to mere 750-odd. Therefore, to sit in either of the two chambers was the highest achievement, he said. |
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BJP begins second phase of campaign
from Thursday New Delhi, April 13 The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, will meet the media in the capital before leaving for his Gandhinagar constituency on April 16 and be there for five days till April 20 when polling takes place there in the first phase of elections. From April 17 to 23, Mr Vajpayee will address public rallies in four states. On April 17, he will address rallies in Jalgaon and Nagpur and be in the Capital for a meeting the next day. The Prime Minister will address a meeting in Ghazipur and Varanasi on April 19 and election rallies in Khalilabad and Bansgaon the following day. On April 22, Mr Vajpayee will visit the constituencies of Union Textile Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Kishenganj and Chapra, respectively. RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav is contesting against Rudy in Chapra. On April 23, the Prime Minister will be addressing meetings in Jalna and Mumbai to wind up the second phase. Mr Advani who will spend a major part of the second phase in his constituency, Gandhinagar, will be in the North-East on April 24. BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu will address a rally in Lucknow on April 15, in Gujarat on April 16, in Karnataka on April 17 and 18, in Andhra Pradesh on April 19 and 20, in Karnataka again on April 21 and 22, in Uttar Pradesh on April 23 and in Bihar on April 24. |
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BJP to study SC order on ads New Delhi, April 13 “We have been concerned about the declining levels
and standard of political advertisements as they have been diverting
from the issues of the day. We will study the Supreme Court order and
respond,” BJP spokesperson M.A. Naqvi told mediapersons here. “The
BJP has always been against personal attacks in political campaigns
and has always favoured a campaign based on issues, policies and
programmes,” he maintained. He claimed that the BJP had not put out
any advertisements so far. |
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Nine take oath as RS members New Delhi, April 13 The oath was administered by Mr Shekhawat in his chamber in Parliament House. The brief ceremony was attended by Rajya Sabha Congress leader Manmohan Singh and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs O. Rajagopal. Those administered the oath from Punjab were former Chief Election Commissioner Mohinder Singh Gill, second-time MP Ashwani Kumar and Mr Dharam Pal. They were all Congress candidates. Mr Virendra Singh, who was a Shiromani Akali Dal nominee, did not attend the ceremony. Following the death of veteran Akali leader and SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who was elected in the elections held last month, a seat has fallen vacant. A second-time MP from Himachal Pradesh and Congress spokesperson, Mr Anand Sharma, also took the oath. Others who were administered the oath were senior Congress leader from Kerala K. Karunakaran, P. V. V. Abdul Wahab (Muslim League, Kerala), A. Vijayaraghavan (CPI-M, Kerala), T. R. Zeliang (NPF, Nagaland) and Matilal Sarkar (CPI-M, Tripura). While Mr Vijayaraghavan, Mr Ashwini Kumar and Mr Matilal Sarkar have been elected for a successive second term, all others are first-timers or were members of the dissolved Lok Sabha. |
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PM must ask Modi to quit, says Cong New Delhi, April 13 Putting the onus squarely on Mr Vajpayee, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said if Mr Vajpayee did not do so, he will be failing to observe “raj dharma”, the advise he gave Mr Modi shortly after the Gujarat riots. He said if Mr Vajpayee does not act, it will show that the only “dharma” which the Prime Minister believes in is the “dharma” of attaining “raj” or power. Mr Sibal also launched a scathing attack on Law Minister Arun Jaitley for his observation that the apex court’s order in the Best Bakery case is “not an indictment on the Narendra Modi government”. |
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Modi needn’t quit: BJP New Delhi, April 13 “There is no question of his resignation. There are instances of cases being shifted from one district court to another and one state to another. This cannot be construed as a reflection of the state government’s performance,” BJP General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here. |
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Nashik press GM sacked for helping Telgi New Delhi, April 13 The government took the decision after the CBI submitted a preliminary report, saying gross irregularities had been committed by Prakash, who was then posted as Deputy General Manager of the ISP at Nashik. Prakash was arrested by CBI on December 19 last in Hyderabad for alleged security lapses which helped Telgi in spreading his network across the country. Besides Telgi and Prakash, the others named in the case were retired machinist N.A. Bhusare, Works Manager Mahendra Singh, Assistant Controller of Stamps P.P. Konkane and head clerk D.S. Shaligram.
— PTI |
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Karan Singh loses legal battle for ancestral
jewellery New Delhi, April 13 The jewellery is presently lying with the treasury of the state government. Earlier, Dr Karan Singh’s petition was rejected by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 1997. Dismissing his appeal against the high court order, a Supreme Court Bench of Justice Y. K. Sabharwal and Justice
A.R. Lakshmanan said, “There has never been any declaration that the articles in question are private properties of the appellant (Dr Singh) or his father”. It said Dr Singh had not put forward any claim, which had ever been recognised by the Union Government for the past 30 years. And during all these years, he had not raised his “finger in respect of these movable properties”, the court observed. The high court had rejected his petition on the ground that till 1983, no attempt was made by Dr Singh to claim these valuables as his private property. The Jammu and Kashmir Government had taken a stand that after signing of the instrument of accession by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947, articles in question, comprising jewellery, heirlooms, wearing apparel, gold and silver utensils and cutlery, furniture, fixtures and carpets, were vested in the state. Consequently, all these articles were transferred to the government treasury on September 17, 1951, the state contended. Singh had written a letter to the Union Home Ministry only in 1983 for laying claim over these items and a year later approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking a direction to the Union Government to hand over the same to him. While his petition was pending before the high court, the Union Government had rejected his claim over the jewellery in 1984. The Centre had quoted a letter of Maharaja Hari Singh to first Home Minister Vallabh Bhai Patel which had listed his private properties but it did not mention anything about the jewellery in question, the apex court said. |
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Rs 30,000 recovered from gangrape victim in court New Delhi, April 13 The incident took place in the court of the Additional Sessions Judge (Mahila Court) Swaran Kanta Mehra who in a complaint to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Reena Singh Nag asked her to take action against Meera, alias Brind Vasni, from whom the money was recovered. The incident came to the notice of the court while the testimony of Meera, the victim of the alleged rape, was being recorded. All accused informed the court that they had been implicated and since the registration of the case she had been blackmailing them and their family members seeking Rs 60,000 for turning hostile. The accused - Sunil Kumar (30), Hari Om (30), Sandeep Bajaj (23) and Surinder Kumar (21) - said since they wanted it to be brought to the notice of the court, they paid Rs 30,000 to Meera in the court premises today. The judge directed a woman head constable posted in the court as Naib Court to search Meera. Meera then voluntarily took out Rs 10,000 from her blouse and handed it over to the court. Later, Rs 20000 more were found on her person . Meera, however, alleged that the amount had been forcibly inserted in her blouse by two men outside the court. |
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Malaysian cargo vessel sinks Kolkata, April 13 Coast Guards personnel were conducting the rescue operation. Army helicopters were also employed in the rescue work. |
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Amitabh’s mother hospitalised Mumbai, April 13 “She has been brought to the hospital for investigations relating to her complaint of lower back pain, pain in the leg and intestinal infection,” a spokesperson of the hospital said here. “Teji Bachchan was admitted to the hospital this afternoon and we are carrying out various medical tests to investigate her health problems,” the spokesperson said. The 86-year-old Teji Bachchan would be put through an MRI test and a test for the colon.
— PTI |
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10 lakh take dip on first Ardh Kumbh Hardwar, April 13 Nearly 10 lakh devotees took a dip in the holy Ganges at various ghats. The pilgrims had come from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The bath started at 4 a.m. today and would continue till late in the evening tomorrow. More than 1,000 buses and 25 special trains had been pressed into service. |
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Relief for kin of killed pilgrims New Delhi, April 13 The state government has paid the compensation following the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Six persons were killed when terrorists hurled grenades during a ‘langar’ for Vaishno Devi devotees at Banganga, near Katra, on July 21.s |
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Holiday today New Delhi, April 13 |
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NGOs welcome promise on panel for senior citizens New Delhi, April 13 |
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Relief for kin of killed pilgrims New Delhi, April 13 |
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