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RSS
leader cautions Advani on Modi ‘Girlfriend’ banned in Jabalpur;
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No takers for Cong RS ticket in UP CD on
corruption not fake, say forensic experts AIADMK
seeks probe into voters’ list ‘sabotage’ Successors
bound to follow orders of undivided state: SC Sleaze
racket unearthed Evidence
in ‘fake killings’ recorded Mafia
batters 5 in posh area
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RSS leader cautions Advani on Modi New Delhi, June 16 A day after the VHP suggested a change of leadership in the BJP, Mr Devi rushed to the Capital and met Mr Advani, who also cut short his holiday in Nainital, to present the Sangh Parivar’s “viewpoint” on Mr Vajpayee’s comments. Mr Devi met Mr Advani at the latter’s residence. He would meet Mr Vajpayee after he returned from Manali on June 19, party sources said. He remained closeted with Mr Advani for about an hour. “He is understood to have stressed the need to avoid any “hasty” action against Mr Modi in the aftermath of Mr Vajpayee’s utterances,” sources said. They are also understood to have discussed the attack launched by the VHP on two top BJP leaders. RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said Mr Devi met Mr Advani in connection with the “discussion” kicked off by Mr Vajpayee’s comments. “He merely presented the RSS viewpoint on the issue,” he said. The sangh disagreed with the former Prime Minister’s contention that Gujarat was responsible for BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, he added. At the meeting, the RSS leader stressed that there was no relationship between Gujarat riots and election results. Sources said the meeting was prompted by media reports on the likely sacking of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been blamed for the reverses suffered by the NDA in the Lok Sabha elections. The meeting comes a day after VHP president Ashok Singhal, while reacting to Mr Vajpayee’s statement, said Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani should take upon themselves the blame for the election defeat. Mr Singhal also sought change in the central BJP leadership and asked the two senior BJP leaders to take “sanyas” (retirement). Meanwhile, BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi rejected Mr Singhal’s demand saying Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani were “undisputed leaders” and the patry was proud of their leadership. “We don’t buy their views. There is no question of jettisoning them”, he said. Though the resentment in the Gujarat BJP unit is growing every day, neither the sangh nor the central leadership is prepared to address the issue in a manner that can satisfy the disgruntled MLAs and their leaders, including former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel. Over 80 MLAs are said to be in the anti-Modi camp, but the story does not end here. Many state leaders are also unhappy that the central leaders are virtually ignoring the state. There was no representation of the state in the newly constituted team of BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu, a state leader said. The BJP was unlikely to effect any leadership change in Gujarat although the party might allow ‘separate discussions’ on the political situation in the state during its three-day national executive meeting commencing in Mumbai from July 22, party sources said. The party was unlikely to accept the demand for change of leadership, especially when the UPA leaders were contemplating imposing President’s Rule and removal of the BJP government in Gujarat. The BJP would, therefore, never change its leadership in the state, a senior leader said. The clarification comes in the wake of assertion of BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu that the change of leadership in Gujarat would not even figure in the agenda of the BJP executive meeting. Sources said Mr Vajpayee would be addressing party workers on the last day of the meeting. He would also address a workers’ rally on July 23. |
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‘Girlfriend’ banned in Jabalpur; 30 Sainiks held Jabalpur, June 16 District Magistrate Rajnikant Gupta has issued orders to this effect after activists of the VHP, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad staged demonstrations outside a theatre yesterday and stalled the screening of the movie, official sources said today. Confirming this, the proprietors of Prabhu Vandana Talkies, where the film was being screened, said the shows of the film were cancelled and added that another was being shown in its place. The activists also submitted memorandums to Collectors R.K. Gupta and Superintendent of Police G. Janardan, urging them to ban the film. The activists had torn the film posters and set them afire, besides raising slogans against the producers and director of the movie for “wrong representation of women and Indian culture” Varanasi:
The police on Wednesday arrested 30 Shiv Sena activists who tried to disrupt the screening of controversial Hindi film “Girlfriend” at a cinema hall here. The sena activists tried to barge into Sajan cinema compound and disrupt the noon show of the film but the attempt was foiled, police sources said. Bhopal:
While ‘moral policing’ against the screening of Karan Razdan’s film “Girlfriend” continued unabated, posters of the controversial movie were torn and burnt on Wednesday in Gwalior. A report from the citadel town said Shiv Sainiks, led by district unit chief Narendra Singh Tomar, staged a demonstration in front of the Yadav cinema and even prevented viewers from watching the film. Surat:
About 60 demonstrators allegedly belonging to the Bajrang Dal and VHP barged into Alankar Theatre in the heart of the city screening “Girlfriend” and disrupted the show on Wednesday. Mumbai:
A day after Shiv Sena activists attacked a movie theatre screening
Mumbai’s Police Commissioner on Tuesday ordered the police stations to beef up the security outside cinema halls screening the movie and crack down on trouble-makers. Around 15 persons have been arrested for allegedly disrupting the screening of the film at a Dadar cinema in Central Mumbai on Monday. |
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No takers for Cong RS ticket in UP New Delhi, June 16 Under normal circumstances, there is a rush to get a nomination for the Upper House. But in this case, there were no takers and it was after considerable deliberation that the party eventually zeroed in on low-profile functionary from Delhi, Brij Mohan Bhama. CWC member Salman Khursheed, Congress Legislature Party leader from UP Pramod Tiwari and AICC functionary Wasim Ahmed were asked to contest but they all declined. The reasons why otherwise eager Congressmen backed out was obvious. The party does not have sufficient strength in the UP Assembly to get its candidate elected and its efforts to mobilise support from others failed. It was hoping that 17 Independent
legislators and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) would help make up the shortfall. As it happens, the Congress failed to win either group’s support. Mr. Ajit Singh was promised a Cabinet berth at the Centre as a quid pro quo for the support of his 12 members in UP. The RLD chief, however, declined, saying he was committed to back the Samajwadi Party as his party is an ally in the
Mulayam Singh Yadav government. While the RLD will pitch in with the Samajwadi Party to back Anil Ambani, the BJP and the independent candidates are expected to support Lalit Suri. Faced with certain defeat, no
Congressman was willing to be used as a pawn in the ongoing battle with the Samajwadi Party. Although upstaged by the SP and BJP, the Congress has decided to go ahead and field its own candidate. The fact that it is doing so even though the Congress is still lending outside support to the SP-led government, is a clear indication of the growing chasm between the two parties. It also shows there is unlikely to be any let-up in the Congress party’s aggressive campaign against the SP-led government. Party strategists believe that if the Congress is to strengthen its organisation in this state, it has to position itself as an aggressive opposition party, for which it needs to launch an all-out war against the state government. |
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CD on corruption not fake, say forensic experts Jaipur, June 16 According to knowledgeable sources, if the voice-test also confirms the genuineness of the CD, the bureau may proceed with the arrest of former Home Minister Gulab Singh Shaktawat and UDH ministers Chhoga Lal Bakolia and Takiuddin Ahmed along with some officials of the Jaipur Development Authority allegedly involved in the scam. Jaipur-based property broker Ranbir Pahalwan, hailing from Haryana, had released the CD that caused commotion in the Congress on the verge of the Lok Sabha elections. The report of the committee headed by Mr Janardan Singh Gehlot to go into the causes of the defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha poll also says that the release of the CD was one of the contributory factors leading to the losses suffered by the party. The Anti-Corruption Bureau, after taking cognizance of the matter, had registered a case under the relevant Act on April 25. |
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AIADMK seeks probe into voters’ list ‘sabotage’ New Delhi, June 16 A party delegation led by Mr P G Narayanan, leader of AIADMK Parliamentary Party, which met the Election Commission, demanded that government employees need not be involved in the work of preparation of electoral rolls. They said that unemployed educated youth could be given the task in association with independent organisations. Party leaders gave a memorandum to the EC demanding an intensive, door-to-door verification of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu by an independent agency. The delegation said state government employees, having been unreasonably perturbed by the strong measures taken by the AIADMK government in the state, joined with Opposition parties like DMK and did “every sort of mischief in deleting the names of voters belonging to the AIADMK.” The delegation claimed that names of about 43 genuine voters were deleted. Calling for a speedy implementation of suggestions made by them, AIADMK leaders said it was in the overall interest of democracy as personal vengeance of a handful people could not be allowed to influence the conduct or the outcome of the elections. The delegation said government employees had displayed “partisan” attitude in preparing and revising electoral rolls. It said employees in the state were mostly members of some union or association affiliated to parties opposed to the AIADMK. |
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Successors bound to follow orders of New Delhi, June 16 “When there is no change of sovereignty and it is merely an adjustment of territories by reorganisation of a particular state, the administrative orders made by the government of the erstwhile state continue to be in force and effective and binding on the successor state or states until and unless they are modified, changed or repudiated by the governments of the new state,” a Bench of Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice B.P. Singh ruled. The court at the same time suggested that the legislature while passing an Act in this regard should take into account any such unforeseen situation to be faced by the new state and take appropriate legislative measures. The ruling came on an appeal by the Commissioner of Commercial Tax of Jharkhand , which had challenged the application of the Bihar Finance Act and the 1995 order for its implementation. “We are of the view that the principles laid down in the Balbir Singh case (relating to reorganisation of Punjab) fully apply to the facts of this case having regard to identical legislative provisions and particularly so when the notification in question is by definition of a law and not a mere administrative order,” the Bench ruled. “If the laws in force were to lapse on the day the division (of a state) was effected, a chaotic situation would have emerged and the newly created state would be rendered a state without laws,” the court said. Such protective provision was necessary relating to the reorganisation of the states. But it was appropriate for the successor state to pass its own laws to overcome the unusual situation faced by it to achieve its objectives. Jharkhand Government had come to appeal in the apex court against the Patna High Court order, allowing a batch of petitions by coal and cement companies that they were exempted from paying sales tax on purchase of raw materials extended to new units as per the Bihar Finance Act, 1981. The Jharkhand Government in its appeal had contended that unless and until it granted a similar exemption by issuing an order, the companies were bound to pay the tax and remit the same to the state exchequer. Rejecting the appeal of the Jharkhand Government, the Supreme Court said if their stand was accepted it would lead to “arbitrary results as the entrepreneurs whose industrial units operate in Bihar would get the benefit of exemption but their counterparts in Jharkhand would not be entitled to it.” |
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Sleaze racket unearthed Ranchi, June 16 The police seized a huge cache of blue films on CDs and bank drafts from one Debasish Pal whose bank account was under the scanner. “After the recovery, and, interrogation of some persons engaged in the flesh trade, we came to know about the executive magistrate’s alleged adultery,” Senior Superintendent of Police M.V. Rao told a press conference here last night. He said that the executive Magistrate came into contact with Debasish through his nephew Ranjhu and was later introduced to Debasish’s brother Paritosh alias Bapi. Rao said Bapi allegedly acted as a go between for the executive magistrate and a girl he sexually exploited and who was killed on May 22. One Shanti Devi had brought the girl into the sex trade after she snapped relations with her husband, he said. The SSP announced a reward for information on the whereabouts of Debasish and Paritosh. On June 12 Chief Minister Arjun Munda had suspended the Executive Magistrate A.K. Sharan and ordered a magisterial probe into charges of alleged sexual exploitation against him following the recovery of the girl’s body.
— PTI |
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Evidence in ‘fake killings’ recorded Jodhpur, June 16 The statement of Major V. K. Singhal was recorded regarding a mobile phone set allegedly purchased by Col K. D. Singh from the unit fund. He told the court that his role was limited to taking the set to Chandigarh for activating it when he proceeded on leave while serving as the Commander of ‘C’ company of Gorkha Rifles in Siachen. Another witness Lieut Sunil Dogra, posted in Siachen in 2002, gave details of two encounters and killings of enemy soldiers during his tenure in the high altitude area. The military court is recording summary evidence as a follow-up of the court of inquiry that found Col K.D. Singh and Major R. Lamba responsible for administrative lapses.
— PTI |
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Mafia batters 5 in posh area Bhopal, June 16 More than 10 members of the gang came in a Tata Sumo and tried to drag Anil Upadhyaya from his house. As Anil resisted, he was knifed repeatedly. His 65-year-old mother Vimla Devi was battered when she moved to help her son. The gangsters then dumped all four of them as well as Anil’s four-year-old daughter Simaran in the vehicle and sped away. They dropped the old woman and the child on the way and took the other three to a secluded place towards the airport. There they made Anil Upadhyaya sign some papers, alleged to be the sale deed of Anil’s house. |
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