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Countermand Chapra poll, Rudy pleads with EC
Cong power-hungry, says Advani The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, lashed out at the Congress and other parties for attempting to stall the country’s development process. “These people are power hungry and that is why they are joining hands to grab power,” Mr Advani said. |
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Rajgarh: RSS activist withdraws nomination Bhopal, April 28 Prospects of Mr Laxman Singh, who is contesting on the BJP ticket in the Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency, have brightened following the withdrawal of nomination by RSS activist Mr Ashok Tripathi. And that puts the former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh’s political career at stake.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, state BJP President Vinay Katiyar and cine star Raj Babbar are among 432 candidates in the fray for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections to 30 seats in Uttar Pradesh on May 5. Nation on path of development, says BJP
Sri
Lankan Foreign Minister in Delhi
New Bench to hear Taj Corridor case Doctors in Bilkis case surrender Witnesses of Gujarat riot cases get CRPF cover SC notice to govt on deletion of domiciliary clause The Supreme Court today dismissed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s petition seeking review of its order transferring two Rs 66.67 crore disproportionate assets cases against her for trial in Bangalore on the grounds that she was influencing witnesses. HC dissatisfied over NALCO probe The Bombay High Court today expressed dissatisfaction over the probe conducted by National Aluminium Corporation into the allegations of molestation of a female employee by its chairman-cum-managing director and inquired from the public sector unit whether the committee conducting the inquiry could be reconstituted. New Delhi, April 28 The ceasefire between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang faction) was today extended for another year, in an attempt to bring peace to the restive northeastern state. Indian street kids win hearts in Pak After the Indian cricket team won the Cup and hearts in Pakistan, it was the turn of the street children and one-time bonded labourers to strike a chord with the people of the neighbouring country under a peace initiative called “Cricket for Peace.” Missionary asked to leave Kashmir The authorities have asked a Christian missionary, working in the Kashmir valley as head of several prominent educational institutions since 1963, to leave the country immediately failing which action under the Foreigners’ Act would be taken against him. Male models cry foul
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Countermand Chapra poll, Rudy pleads with EC New Delhi, April 28 Mr Rudy, who submitted a five-page memorandum along with some evidence in the form of a CD containing video footage of alleged booth capturing, violence and rigging and
newspaper clippings and photographs, complained to the commission that there was large-scale violence, including killings and destruction of EVMs, by RJD workers in the constituency on the day of poll on April 26. The Union Minister, who was accompanied by BJP MP Balbir Punj and other senior state leaders, met Deputy Election Commissioner Noor Mohammad and complained that since morning of April 26, the day of poll, large-scale vandalism and booth capturing had been witnessed in the Parsa (43), Chapra (41), Garkha (42), Marhowrah (39), Sonepur (44) and Taraiya (38) Assembly constituencies under the Chapra Lok Sabha seat. Mr Rudy pointed out that though the commission termed 800 polling stations as “sensitive and hyper-sensitive”, proper security was deployed only at 200 booths. “Out of the identified 800 sensitive polling stations, only 20 per cent could be provided with Central paramilitary forces or equivalent force of the state government,” he said, adding “the presence of Home Guards was inconsequential to the remaining sensitive booths.” In the memorandum, Mr Rudy alleged that local RJD ministers Udit Rai, and Chandrika Rai with their official security, were found capturing “booths and intimidating” voters. “Mr Subhash Yadav, MLC and brother-in-law of Laloo Prasad Yadav was also seen openly moving and capturing booths in Chapra on an un-numbered Scorpio vehicle and a Gypsy with registration number BR 1P 9842, with Black Cat Commandos of the state police,” Mr Rudy said. “The special observers of the commission were duly informed about his presence. Possibly observers ordered his removal from the district which had not been
carried out until the close of the polling .” BJP spokesperson and Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley told newspersons that the commission would conduct an “indepth and independent inquiry” into the blatant incidents of booth-capturing and violence in Chapra and take an appropriate step. The video footage was screened at the press conference. Meanwhile, the commission said it was examining the representation given by the BJP candidate and would take an appropriate decision soon. |
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Cong power-hungry, says Advani Kolkata, April 28 “These people are power hungry and that is why they are joining hands to grab power,” Mr Advani said. He, however, was confident that the NDA under Mr Vajpayee’s leadership would again come to power at the Centre with a comfortable majority and it would continue work for the country and its people. There will be better governance with Mr Vajpayee as Prime Minister after the elections, Mr Advani asserted. At his first election campaign today in the Marxist-dominated Bengal, the Deputy Prime Minister addressed meetings at Balurghat (south Dinajpur), Durgapur (Burdwan) and Midnapore, near Kolkata in support of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress candidates. Ignoring the heat, several thousands people were present at these meetings. In each meeting, he spoke for about an hour elaborating on the development and progress in various fields. He said only under Mr Vajpayee’s leadership, India could achieve better success in the coming years. Mr Advani said certain political parties had been spreading canards against the NDA government. He denied that the BJP was communal. The BJP still wanted the Babri Mosque issue to be settled through mutual talks among Muslims and Hindus. Referring to the Gujarat issue, he reiterated that it was an unfortunate incident but he credited Mr Narendra Modi for promptly restoring normalcy in the state. Mr Advani assured that after the elections, there would be further improvement of their relations with Pakistan. “Similarly, we will strengthen our friendly ties with Bangladesh,” he said. The Deputy Prime Minister claimed that the country’s relations with Pakistan had improved. Mr Adavni said the CPM Government in Bengal had been ruining industries in the state, throwing lakhs of people jobless. He said the industrial town of Durgapur, which the late Dr B.C. Roy built, was now turned an industrial grave. Mr Advani felt that Bengal was now suffering from proper leadership which was hindering the state’s development. |
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Rajgarh: RSS activist withdraws nomination Bhopal, April 28 A Retired High Court Judge, Justice Shambhu Singh, put forward by the Congress at the insistence of Mr Digvijay Singh, is yet to make his presence felt. Mr Digvijay Singh was said to have assured the party high command that he would ensure Justice Shambhu Singh’s victory. Later, he had gone on record as having stated that “Laxman Singh’s defeat is necessary for my political career”. A majority of the BJP workers in Rajgarh district have not yet been able to accept Mr Laxman Singh as their candidate. The younger brother of Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Laxman, Singh had been representing Rajgarh in the Lok Sabha since 1994 as a Congress nominee. He joined the BJP early this year. Mr Ashok Tripathi, who has for several years been active in the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an RSS outfit, had aroused a hope among the sulking BJP workers by announcing his candidature. The spontaneous public response that he received when he went to file his nomination papers on April 22 had alarmed BJP and RSS leaders in the state. Mr Tripathi now says that he was pressured by RSS leaders into withdrawing his nomination. But, he adds, his wife Vinita Tripathi is still in the fray and that he would work vigorously for her victory. Political activists from Rajgarh, however, say it is not the same thing. Moreover, the rumour is that Mr Tripathi has taken money for withdrawing from the contest and this is bound to discredit his campaign for his wife. In the state Congress, not many are prepared to believe that Mr Digvijay Singh really wants Mr Laxman Singh defeated, his assertions notwithstanding. |
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Lucknow, April 28 The primary focus will be on the prestigious Lucknow constituency from where Mr Vajpayee is seeking re-election for the fifth time in a row. The 32 candidates in the fray from the Lucknow seat include Congress supported Independent candidate Ram Jethmalani, SP’s Madhu Gupta and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Nasir Ali Siddiqui. However, political observers feel the lack of a combined opposition candidate here will benefit the BJP. In the 1999 elections, Mr Vajpayee had defeated Congress candidate Karan Singh by 1,23,624 votes and received 48.11 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency. In the 1998 poll, the Prime Minister got 57.82 per cent of the votes against his nearest rival SP’s Muzaffar Ali while in 1996, he received 52.25 per cent of votes against SP’s Raj Babbar. However, during the 2002 Assembly poll in the state, the Lucknow LS seat comprising five Assembly segments saw the BJP getting only 36.96 per cent of the votes while the SP received 32.30 per cent votes.
— UNI |
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Nation on path of development, says BJP New Delhi, April 28 “It was under the present government that the nation had been put on the path of rapid economic growth while on the other side there is chaos,” BJP spokesperson and Law Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here. Playing up Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s indispensability against Oppostion disunity and chaos, Mr Jaitley said “the sentiment of fast track development is linked with the NDA Government and thus the Vajpayee-led alliance is the option before the people”. Quoting a few paragraphs from the report by Goldman Sachs, Mr Jaitley said the strong economic measures and correct policies adopted by the BJP-led NDA Government are now being internationally acknowledged. The report said that though compared to China “the best growth is yet to occur. India has set up the necessary conditions to support long-term growth path”, he added. Mr Jaitley said according to the report India’s reform track was laudable. In areas like industrial policy, trade reforms, agriculture,
disinvestment, electricity bill, governance, capital market and banking reforms, significant progress had been made. |
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Plea against Dharmendra dismissed Indore, April 28 Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Narendra Jain quashed the plea due to “lack of evidence.” Congressmen Akhtar Baig and K.K. Mishra had filed the petition contending that Dharmendra had changed his name to Dilawar Khan while Hema had adopted the alias Ayesha Bi after their ‘nikah’ in 1979.
— UNI |
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New Delhi, April 28 The step is being taken to enable the people to exercise their franchise. Elections for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi are being held on May 10.
— UNI |
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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister in Delhi New Delhi, April 28 Having held this portfolio earlier
and familiar with his counterparts, Mr Kadirgamar, a confidant of Sri
Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, will have extensive parleys
with the External Affairs Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha. He will also
have a meeting with the National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh
Mishra. The discussions are expected to focus on ways to further
expand the existing bilateral cooperation through enhanced high-level
exchanges and stepped-up cooperation in all areas of mutual interest,
notably in the areas of trade and comprehensive economic
partnership. India attaches the “highest importance” to its
relations with Sri Lanka and looks forward to working with the new
government in Colombo to further intensify the increasingly deeper and
closer bilateral ties and to extending the areas of cooperation for
the common benefit of the people of the two countries. The Freedom
Alliance led by Ms Kumaratunga’s won 105 seats in the 225-member
Parliament to emerge the largest single group, while the United
National Party of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe bagged 82 seats. Mr
Kadirgamar, during his stay, will also brief Indian leaders on his
government’s approach to restart the stalled peace process in the
island nation. The new government in Sri Lanka has the formidable
task of continuing the peace process with the LTTE. The President has
already invited Norway to resume the process for facilitating
talks. The talks between the government headed by Mr Wickremesinghe
and the Tamil rebels derailed in April last year following the rigid
attitude of the latter. Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Nirupam
Sen is accompanying Mr Kadirgamar. |
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New Bench to hear Taj Corridor case New Delhi, April 28 In the new Bench, Ms Justice Ruma Pal would replace Chief Justice, Mr V.N. Khare, who is retiring on May 2. However, the other two judges, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapaidia, would continue to be in the Bench. The direction to this effect was issued by the Chief Justice during the hearing of the case today. The new Bench would consider six inquiry reports of the Uttar Pradesh Government, exonerating former Chief Secretary D.B. Bagga, the then Chief Minister Mayawati’s Principal Secretary P.L. Punia and former Environment Secretary V K Gupta in the case in the departmental inquiries even before the CBI completed the investigation. The inquiry reports, pertaining to the role of these officers in sanctioning Rs 17 crore within one month for the project in May last year, were filed in the court by the state government on Monday. The court, earlier had taken serious note of the exoneration and reinstatement of these officers, who were suspended after the CBI had registred a case against Ms Mayawati, her cabinet colleague Nisimuddin Siddiqui and six top officials on September 18, 2003. The other officers against whom departmental inquiries were yet to be completed, are former UP Principal Environment Secretary, R.K. Sharma, former Union Environment Secretary K.C. Mishra and National Project Construction Corporation (NPCC) MD, Mr N.C. Bali. |
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Doctors in Bilkis case surrender New Delhi, April 28 Dr Arun Kumar and his wife, Dr Sangeeta Prasad, surrendered before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ahmedabad on April 26, a CBI spokesman said here. The Judge remanded both in judicial custody till April 30. The CBI had filed a chargesheet on April 19 against 20 persons, including the two doctors and several policemen. According to the
chargesheet, the doctors allegedly did “not perform properly” the post-mortem of the victims who were killed in a mob fury at Panivela village, near Ahmedabad. The CBI also alleged that the doctors did not conduct any test on Bilkis who was five months pregnant at the time of the incident. — UNI |
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Witnesses of Gujarat riot cases get CRPF cover
Ahmedabad, April 28 A three-member central team led by Inspector-General Yashowardhan Azad spoke to some of the key witnesses here and ascertained the threat perception before deciding the level of security. The team, which also includes top rank officials from Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) arrived here last night and today visited three “worst affected” areas during violence, including Naroda Patiya and Gulbarg society in the city, official sources said. The sources said the security of some key witnesses was to be handed over to the CRPF while in certain cases the job would be accomplished by the state police. The Supreme Court on March 15 had asked the Centre to identify key witnesses in the nine Gujarat riot cases, for making arrangements of their security by central forces like CRPF. “The three officers from Delhi are accompanied by Gandhinagar Range DIG and they are going around to ascertain the level of security being provided to witnesses in the riot-affected areas and the general situation there”, Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) A.K. Bhargav said. The team would be visiting Prantij, Visnagar, Himmatnagar and other areas in Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Gandhinagar districts before returning tomorrow.
— PTI |
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SC notice to govt on deletion of domiciliary clause New Delhi, April 28 A Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, Mr Justice V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia, while converting Mr Nayar’s letter to the court into a public interest litigation (PIL), also issued notice to the Attorney-General, Mr Soli J. Sorabjee, seeking his views on the amendment. Mr Nayar, a former Rajya Sabha MP, in his communication to the Chief Justice has also challenged the provision of “open ballot” for electing the members of the Council of the States as provided in the amended Section 3 of the Act. Appearing in person, Mr Nayar told the court that the amendment clause was an assault on the basic structure of the Constitution and contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Keshwanand Bharati case that its basic structure could not be changed. Opening of the gates of the Rajya Sabha to non-domiciles would not only undermine the federal structure but also was aimed at reducing the Upper House, essentially a Council of States, in a “dumping ground” by political parties for those candidates who had lost Lok Sabha elections by giving them nominations from other states, he said. Criticising the two principal parties, the Congress and the BJP for joining hands to ensure that the amendment Bill was through in Parliament, Mr Nayar said former President R. Venkataraman had also taken strong exception to this. While seeking replies from the respondents by July 12, the court directed advocate Sanjay Parikh, who appeared along with Mr Nayar, to frame a formal PIL on the issue and submit it by April 30 in the court Registry. Mr Nayar in his representation said that by dropping the domicile condition, the government had done away with the “residuary powers” to the states, which was the fundamental principle behind constituting the Rajya Sabha to give adequate representation to the states in a federal structure, if by some reason it did not get the same in the Lok Sabhaa. |
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SC dismisses Jaya’s plea New Delhi, April 28 A Bench of Mr Justice S.N. Variava and Mr Justice H.K. Sema, which had ordered transfer of the cases to a special court in Bangalore from Chennai in November last year, rejected her review petition, holding that there was no merit in it. Earlier in February, the Bench had also dismissed her petition for modification of the order to the extent that the cases be shifted to anywhere in the country than Karnataka, which she had termed as “hostile” state due to its dispute with Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery river waters issue. The court had transferred the case to Bangalore as 64 of the witnesses listed by the prosecution had turned hostile and four prosecutors were changed after Ms Jayalalithaa had become Chief Minister in 2001. The cases were transferred to Bangalore on a petition filed by DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan. Besides the Chief Minister, her estranged foster son T.T.V. Sudhakaran, her close friend Sasikala Natrajan, another associate Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran’s brother Dinakaran were the other accused in the case. |
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HC dissatisfied over NALCO probe
Mumbai, April 28 Justice Ajit Shah and Justice Abhay Oka deferred the matter till May 6 after Additional Solicitor General Mukund Rohatgi said he would seek instructions from higher-ups on the reconstitution of the committee. Mr Rohatgi pleaded that the existing committee had completed the inquiry and was in the process of writing its report. He urged the court to wait until the report was received. The Judges, however, said they had perused the questions put by the committee to the victim and felt that the probe was not being conducted properly. They suggested reconstitution of the committee of five members instead of the existing four in keeping with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. — PTI |
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New Delhi, April 28 The decision to extend the ceasefire, which expired today, was taken at a day-long meeting here between a delegation of the NSCN(K) and senior officials of the Home Ministry on April 23. This is the fourth consecutive year when the ceasefire has been brought into force. The first ceasefire agreement between the two was arrived at in 2001. At the April 23 meeting, the two sides also discussed strict maintenance of the ground rules for the ceasefire as last year there were allegations of violations by the rebel group.
— UNI |
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Indian street kids win hearts in Pak New Delhi, April 28 With slogans like “We are one”, “Cricket is just an excuse,” “We want to be friends” and “We need peace and friendship,” the children have charmed people of Pakistan, bowled over the media and formed valuable friendship bonds with similarly under privileged children there, an Actionaid press note here said. The under-17 children are on a 10-day tour to Pakistan to bat for peace and highlight violation of children’s rights rampant in both South Asian countries even as governments of both the nuclear nations spent billions on defence. ActionAid India and Pakistan in collaboration with partner organisations like Insaan Foundation Pakistan (Lahore), SPARC (Islamabad) and Delhi-based Leapfrog have arranged the event.
— UNI |
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Missionary asked to leave Kashmir New Delhi, April 28 Father Jim Borst, head of the Mill Hill Mission, and the Principal of Burn Hall School (Srinagar) and St Joseph’s School (Baramula), has been asked by the Foreigners’ Registration Office, Kashmir, to leave the valley after his visa was not renewed. The Foreigners’ Registration office in Srinagar said he had been informed that his application for extension of visa in India beyond September 2, 2003, had not been recommended. Accordingly, he had been directed to leave the state within seven days.
— UNI |
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New Delhi, April 28 During the fitting session last week, three male models opted out of the event after differences of opinion with the organiser Fashion Development Council of India (FDCI). However, FDCI Executive Director Vinod Kaul played down the issue, saying there were some personal reasons behind their decision.
— UNI |
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Five labourers die in mishap Jaipur, April 28 |
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1 dies as MiG makes emergency landing Jodhpur, April 28 The fighter plane was forced to return to base when it developed a technical snag during a routine training sortie around noon, the sources said.
— UNI |
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BSP leader shot dead Ballia, April 28 Angry villagers later caught hold of one of the attackers and beat him to death.
— PTI |
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