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New Delhi, April 21 After the first round of voting, the BJP today appealed to the people to give a “decisive majority” to the NDA in the remaining three crucial phases to ensure stability at the Centre and launched a psychological warfare against its main rival, saying all “exit polls” had showed a clear exit for the Congress.
EC, Mufti govt should ensure fearless
BJP has no respect for allies:
CPM
Case against Cong MP Renuka
Chaudhury
GRAPHIC: POLLING TODAY |
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PM to contest from Lucknow: Venkaiah
Chief of Singapore defence forces arrives
Maj-Gen Ng Yat Chung, Chief of Defence Forces, Singapore, inspects the guard of honour at
South Block in
New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI photo
Human habitation on Mars in three decades:
Kalam
Two cadets held for ship Captain’s
murder
Police remand for paper leak accused
Char Dham yatra route opens
today
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BJP seeks clear mandate for
NDA
New Delhi, April 21 “A decisive mandate to us would not only silence the Congress but also ensure stability at the Centre and enable the NDA to implement its agenda,” BJP President M. Venkaiah told newspersons here after the top leadership of the party held a meeting to review the first phase of polling yesterday. “The available trends show that the Congress is fighting for survival and there is a strong wave in favour of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” he said. “The internal report of the party as well as the exit poll results, which put the NDA alliance ahead of other parties, were on expected lines,” Mr Naidu said. He also claimed that unlike in the past, there was no tactical anti-BJP voting among the minorities. “You have tried all other parties and felt let down. Please give us a chance,” Mr Naidu said, appealing to the minorities. The review meeting was held at Mr Naidu’s residence in which senior party leaders, including Mr Pramod Mahajan, Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Sanjay Joshi and Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were present. Subsequently, Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani, along with these leaders, apprised the Prime Minister of the first phase of polling and discussed the party’s strategy for the next three phases. It is understood that during the meeting there was consensus among the BJP leaders that the party should step up its campaign across the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh, where the number of seats is the highest at 80. It was also felt that the party leaders and cadres should keep their focus more on the achievements of the Vajpayee-led NDA government and refrain from making personal attacks, which were blown out of proportion by the media. It was decided to hold more public meetings of prominent leaders of the party in Uttar Pradesh and intensify its door-to-door campaign in the state. Claming that the party would win hands down in the Karnataka Assembly elections, Mr Naidu said he would be touring the state for the next three days to “bid goodbye to Chief Minister S. M. Krishna”. He (Krishna) was a “decent person” but his performance was “poor and horrible,” Mr Naidu said. |
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EC, Mufti govt should ensure fearless poll:
CPM
New Delhi, April 21 “There is no scope for complacency... we want the EC and the state administration to take more stringent steps,” party Politburo member Prakash Karat told reporters here. Only yesterday, at least four persons, including two securitymen, were killed and several others were injured in militant attacks to disrupt the poll, Mr Karat said. “We will shortly take up the matter with the EC,” he said, and added that the party had got reports that militants would concentrate more on Anantanag Lok Sabha constituency from where People’s Democratic Party working chairperson Mehbooba Mufti and CPI (M) state secretary Mohd Yusuf Tarigami are contesting. Militants have stepped up attacks to “terrorise the people who have resolved to contest the elections,” he said, adding that the ground situation had not improved. Reacting to Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s comment that he was tired of managing coalitions, Mr Karat said, “The BJP neither accords respect nor is concerned about its allies in the coalition.” He quoted the Prime Minister as having recently said that “My worry now is that we might again be saddled with a 22-party coalition, such a situation is better avoided.” The BJP’s real intentions were exposed when it managed to get its agenda of the Ayodhya temple, cow slaughter and the legislation to bar people of foreign origin from occupying top posts included in the NDA manifesto, he said. “The BJP aims to form a government which pursues solely its own agenda and programmes,” Mr Karat alleged. The CPI(M) said it was surprising that the BJP’s allies like the Trinamul Congress and the Janata Dal (U) had accepted Mr Vajpayee’s statement “without whimper”. |
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BJP has no respect for allies: CPM
New Delhi, April 21 “The BJP neither accords respect nor is concerned about its allies in the coalition,” CPM Politburo member Prakash Karat told mediapersons here. He quoted the Prime Minister as having recently said: “My worry now is that we might again be saddled with a 22-party coalition; such a situation is better avoided.” The BJP’s real intentions were exposed when it managed to get its agenda on the Ayodhya temple, cow slaughter and the legislation to bar people of foreign origin from occupying top posts included in the NDA manifesto, he said. —
UNI |
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Case against Cong MP Renuka Chaudhury
Hyderabad, April 21 The Penuballi police today arrested 58 Congress activists involved in the attack on the police station allegedly under the supervison of Ms Chaudhury and Mr Venkat Rao. The police said the trouble started when a local Congress leader was prevented from organising a “fellowshiplunch’’ for 200 near a polling booth in the limits of Penuballi police station yesterday while polling was on. Despite knowing that such activities would tantamount to violation of the Model Code of Conduct, he picked up an argument with the police, who resorted to caning the activists to disperse the crowd. The police said a group, led by Ms Chaudhury and Mr Rao, reached the police station late in the evening and tried to ‘gherao’ the police personnel demanding explanation for stopping the lunch programme. In the melee, the Congress activists went on the rampage breaking windowpanes of the police station. The leaders along with the activists left the place. The police registered 61 cases in connection with the incident. —
UNI
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PM to contest from Lucknow: Venkaiah
New Delhi, April 21 “Let me put to rest all speculation...Mr Vajpayee will contest and win from Lucknow and will be the next Prime Minister,” Mr Naidu told a press conference here. He admitted that there were proposals earlier inviting Mr Vajpayee to contest elections from Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Some dailies had reported today that Mr Vajpayee could contest from the Bhopal constituency in Madhya Pradesh in the wake of the recent stampede in Lucknow in which 22 persons were killed. Mr Naidu said Congress attempts to link the saree distribution incident with Mr Vajpayee had exposed their “bankruptcy” of issues. |
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Chief of Singapore defence forces arrives
New Delhi, April 21 On his arrival at South Block, he was received by Admiral Madhevendra Singh, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Naval Staff. He was presented a ceremonial inter-service guard of honour. He also called on the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, and the Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lieut-Gen Shantonu Chowdhury. |
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Human habitation on Mars in three decades: Kalam
Bangalore, April 21 He was participating in a 30-minute video interaction on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of public sector Bharat Electronics Limited here. Replying to a query by BEL employee Anuradha on the terra firma of Mars paving way for eventual colonisation, the father of the Indian missile programme said “You are already in Mars. In our planet, we have six billion population now and by 2020, it would reach eight billion. We might face shortage of minerals which we are going to have from other planets probably.” To another question on promotion of peace in the world, Dr Kalam said strength was very much essential to ensure that. “Strength will respect strength, always,” he said amidst laughter. Asked about his interactive experience with political leaders after assuming the country’s highest office and their observations, the President said it was a billion dollar question. However, he found that everyone, with whom he had interacted, wanted to see India become a developed nation and people become economically stronger, besides having a sound value system. While the objective of all political leaders was the same, the method to achieve it might be different, Dr Kalam felt. “My only goal is to see that every Indian smiles,” the first citizen told another questioner in Tamil. —
UNI |
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Two cadets held for ship Captain’s
murder
New Delhi, April 21 Agarwal was found missing on April 4 at around 18.05 hours and the Chief Engineer and Chief Officer were informed about it. Agarwal’s room was found with bloodstains. The ship’s headquarters in Hong Kong was informed and the officials directed the ship to return to the spot where Agarwal had gone missing, but there was no trace. Later, the ship was stopped at Las Palmas, Spain. The local police conducted a detailed search of the vessel and collected evidence and lifted chance prints. After that, three suspected crew members were disembarked and the ship asked to continue sailing. The accused persons were identified as Agarwal’s co-workers Vivek Madhok (21), a resident of Punjabi
Bagh, and Shankar Bhatia (20), a resident of Rohini, while the role of 2nd officer Nekzad S Cama is being probed. The ship with 36,000 tonnes of logs left San Lorena, Argentina on March 29 for
El-Dekhelia, Egypt, with 21 Indian crew members. On April 5, Capt MP Bhasin informed Agarwal’s father BM Lal that his son was missing from the ship from April 4. Based on the information, he complained to the crime branch. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deepender Pathak said during investigation it was found that Vivek and Shankar, both residents of Delhi, were undergoing a training course at Hong Kong in M/S Univan Ship Management Limited. Accordingly, the suspects during interrogation confessed to have committed the murder as he had reprimanded and slapped them for not showing interest in studies. The duo said they were caught watching TV by Agarwal in the smoking room, and Agarwal had asked them to come to his cabin with cadet notebooks. When they reached the cabin, Agarwal reprimanded and slapped them. The duo pushed Agarwal and hit him with a bottle on his head and later with a metal detector and a chair. After he fell down bleeding and unconscious, the duo strangulated him and disposed his body in the high seas through the lower deck. Mr Pathak said their arrest could be possible only because of the assistance rendered by the Interpol and the CBI. |
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Police remand for paper leak accused
New Delhi, April 21 Metropolitan Magistrate Shahabuddin ordered the police remand of Ranjit and Satyender Verma (brothers) till April 30. The accused would be taken to Nagpur and Dhanbad for ascertaining their source of question papers. The third accused in the The magistrate said, “The matter is serious and has national ramifications. It needs to be thoroughly investigated to reach to the bottom of the racket.” Ranjit, a student of Nagpur Medical College, and his brother surrendered before the magistrate at the Karkardooma district courts on April 19. Both were absconding ever since the question paper leak came to light. They were allegedly involved in selling the copies of question papers to 13 students at a price ranging between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh. —
UNI |
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Char Dham yatra route opens
today
New Delhi, April 21 With the early advent of summer this year, Uttranchal tourism officials here said the yatra would continue for a longer period this year. Besides with the Divali, when the route for the yatra is closed, falling later than normal, the pilgrims would get almost three weeks more for completing the entire route of the ‘Char Dham’ yatra. Almost 10-lakh pilgrims had undertaken the yatra last year and this year the officials are expecting that the number of pilgrims would rise, specially with more time available on hand. The first of the groups for the yatra is expected to leave for ‘Char Dhams’ within days of the route opening up. While the local administration is making all arrangements to ensure that the yatris do not face any problems all along the route, some of the private players are also providing accommodation to the pilgrims this year. One such group, the Leisure Hotels will be providing luxury accommodation tents to pilgrims at the ‘Char Dhams’. Called the ‘Char Dham’ tents, on offer are Swiss-style cottage tents with attached baths and showers. Among other things ayurvedic massages, yoga lessons, religious discourses and even ‘artis’ would be performed at these camps. This will cost almost Rs 15,000 per person for the 11 night and 12 day trip of the ‘Char Dhams’. |
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New Delhi, April 21
