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Modi issue put on backburner
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EC stays UP Rajya Sabha results Cong CMs worried over downsizing ministries RCP flays Punjab’s resolution
on SYL
SC orders status
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‘Witness too involved in Siachen killings’ An Army officer, accused of staging fake killings in Siachen, today alleged that a witness in the military court here also indulged in the same thing.
Captain alleges threat from
‘fake-killings’ accused An officer appearing in the Summary Evidence proceedings in the Siachen fake encounters case alleged that main accused Major Surinder Singh threatened him again today. Declare Bakery absconders as POs: Gujarat police The crime detection branch of the Gujarat police, entrusted with the job of arresting the accused in the Best Bakery case, has moved a fast-track court here for declaring 13 absconders as proclaimed offenders (POs). Bill to
alleviate plight of AP farmers A Bill aimed at alleviating the misery of the farmers of Andhra Pradesh was passed today in the state Assembly amidst heated exchanges between the Treasury and the Opposition Benches. Trade unions to press for 12 pc EPF interest Leaders of top eight central trade unions will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to demand a 3 per cent jump in interest on Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), currently yielding 9 per cent, and withdrawal of contract jobs in private and public sectors. Belgaum, June 21 CBI sleuths today arrested a person, stated to be the driver of the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam kingpin, Abdul Karim Telgi, in the wake of his suspected involvement in the inter-state racket. Technology changes, changes everything
Indo-US space meet kicks off Convict’s family threatens suicide Dejected lover kills classmate Brindavan
Garden to be renovated Plea to isolate
terrorism supporters HC tells Kanshi Ram’s kin to amend plea Israeli firm to provide training in drip irrigation
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Modi issue put on backburner Mumbai, June 21 The party is working hard to bring the curtains down on the controversy over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the party’s defeat in the recent general elections. “The Gujarat issue is over ..we discussed it in the Parliamentary Board meeting in the presence of Mr Vajpayee and party president Venkaiah Naidu said the matter was closed as of now,” Mr Mahajan said. He further added that the party would not hunt for scapegoats to blame for the BJP’s electoral loss. Mr Mahajan, who is in charge of Maharashtra’s Assembly elections scheduled for November, said the question of Mr Modi’s future would not be taken up at the national executive meeting. In all as many as 80 leaders of the party and their supporters
arrived at a hotel opposite the picturesque Powai lake near the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. The general feeling among those arriving in Mumbai was that the BJP should put behind the defeat and look ahead. The two-day national executive will be crucial in deciding what role the party would adopt in the coming days. While a section of the party leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, believe that the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat two years ago played a major role in the defeat, right-wing elements want a return to hardline Hindutva. Most of the middle-level party men are sitting on the fence to see which way the BJP swings in the coming days. “People who lost the elections on account of anti-incumbency wave against them are blaming the Gujarat riots for their defeat,” said Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. He, however, refused to blame any one leader or party. “All through the election campaign nobody said films on the Gujarat riots were being screened but after they were defeated they began to raise this issue,” Mr Naqvi said. Apart from Mr Vajpayee, the Telugu Desam Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena have blamed the anti-Muslim violence for the defeat of their candidates. Seeking to put behind the recent acrimony, the party has announced that Mr Vajpayee would meet Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray during his visit. The two leaders are expected to discuss firming up of alliances for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena’s interlocutors would be Mr Thackeray, son Uddhav, nephew Raj, former speaker of the Lok Sabha Manohar Joshi and leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Narayan Rane, according to sources. The BJP would be represented by Mr Vajpayee, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Lal Krishna Advani and party president Venkiah Naidu. Mr Mahajan revealed that the saffron combine would highlight the role of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party leaders in providing assistance to the kin of Ishrat Jahan Shamim Raza, who was gunned down by the Gujarat police. Mr Mahajan felt that the two parties should have waited for investigations to be complete before coming out in her defence. The Gujarat police and even officers from Maharashtra have come up with, what they say, evidence to link Ishrat with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
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EC stays UP Rajya Sabha results New Delhi, June 21 Reliance group vice-chairman Anil Ambani, businessman Lalit Suri, SP’s Jaya Bachchan, BJP’s M.M. Joshi and Arun Shourie and BSP leader Mayawati were among 11 candidates expected to be declared elected unopposed in UP following rejection of nomination papers of two Congress candidates Harendra Agarwal and M.M. Shukla and deadline for withdrawal of nominations for elections ending today. The Commission’s directive to the returning officer in Lucknow came after a Congress delegation met the three-member Election Commission and complained against the “unconstituitional and unlawful” rejection of the nomination papers of its candidates. Congress leaders, including Mr Birender Singh and Mr Jagadambika Pal, demanded that the returning officer’s decision be overturned so that elections could be held. They said the nominations of the party candidates were rejected “under pressure from the state government.” The Commission will examine the records of nomination papers and give its decision on the valadity of the RO’s decision tomorrow, Deputy Election Commissioner A.N. Jha told reporters. Though the Congress has 16 MLAs and is unlikely to win a Rajya Sabha seat in UP, it is keen to make a political statement by forcing a contest. This, party leaders feel, will expose “nexus between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP.” Congress leaders claim that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was keen to avoid a contest in RS polls. Sources said the Samajwadi Party leaders, who had come to Nirvachan Sadan to meet the CEC, could not meet him. The elections to Rajya Sabha in UP have been fought with drama with Congress nominee Mr Brij Mohan Bhama failing to file nomination papers in time. Mr Bhama had alleged that “strings were pulled’’ to see that his plane did not land at the Lucknow airport. The Congress later asked two of its local leaders to file nomination papers. While the Congress had raised objections over the nomination of Ms Bachchan, the SP and the BJP had “protested’’ the delay and “incomplete nominations” filed by the two Congress candidates. The Congress had alleged that Ms Bachchan was holding an office of profit as chairperson of UP Film Development Council. Ms Bachchan, in her reply, said she had stepped down from her post on May 31. Meanwhile, Union Ministers Shivraj Patil and Anbumani Ramdoss, Congress leaders Ambika Soni, Satish Sharma, BJP’s Yashwant Sinha, Pramod Mahajan and former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah and JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav were among those elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha as deadline for withdrawal of nominations for elections to 65 seats spread over 13 states ended today. Congress general secretary Ambika Soni, her party colleague and former union minister Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Raj Mohinder Singh were elected without contest from Punjab. BJP spokesman and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, who lost Lok Sabha elections from Hazaribagh, was elected unopposed from Jharkhand along with JMM leader Stephen Marandi. Mr Anbumani of PMK was among the six candidates elected unopposed from Tamil Nadu. Former Union Minister Satish Sharma, the only candidate in fray in Uttaranchal, was also elected unopposed. INLD’S Ajay Chautala, Congress’ Kiran Chaudhary and independent candidate and National Minorities Commission Chairman Tarlochan Singh were left in the fray for two RS seats in Haryana. While Mr Chautala, son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, is slated to win one of the seats by securing 29 first-preference votes of the 47-member party INLD legislative team, Ms Chaudhary and Mr Singh are locked in a keen contest for the second seat. JD(U) parliamentary board chairman Sharad Yadav, AICC general secretary R.K. Dhawan were among seven candidates declared elected from Bihar.  |
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Cong CMs worried over downsizing ministries New Delhi, June 21 It later transpired that Mr Tiwari’s hour-long meeting was basically focused on the downsizing of his ministry, which has been necessitated because of a new constitutional requirement restricting the size of ministries. The present strength of his ministry is 17 but it has to be pruned to 12. All state governments are required to prune their ministries in consonance with the new law by the first week of July. Consequently, panic among the Congress Chief Ministers is increasing as this deadline draws closer. They all realise that they will have to contend with a fresh round of dissidence once this law comes into operation. Worried Chief Ministers are hoping that they would not be required to take this painful decision and that the Congress President will instead bail them out by issuing some directives on how they should go about this exercise. Party sources said in his meeting with the Congress President, Mr Tiwari even suggested that she call a meeting of Chief Ministers where a formula be evolved on the proposed downsizing. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, who has been battling dissidence for months now, has to reduce the strength of his ministry by eight while Himachal Pradesh has to downsize by four. Similarly, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will be required to drop 17 ministers while the Jammu and Kashmir ministry has to be pruned by 12. |
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RCP flays Punjab’s resolution
on SYL Jaipur, June 21 The state chief of the Rashtrawadi Congress Party (RCP) and a former minister, Mr Shriram Gotewala, today told newsmen here that the step taken by the Punjab Government was blatantly unconstitutional and an indirect attack on the federal character of the country. The Union Minister for Agriculture, Mr Sharad Panwar, supremo of the RCP, had also been apprised of the devastating damages likely to be suffered by the people of Western Rajasthan and he had assured to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, Mr Gotewala added. He said that all inter-state agreements in respect of distribution of water had become effective with the consent of the Punjab Government. As such, it was unfortunate that Punjab was now ignoring the decisions to which it was a willing party. He urged the Punjab Chief Minister to reconsider the resolution considering the plight of the people and also warned that if a clarification assuring the availability of its due share of water to Rajasthan, was not made, mass agitations and protest demonstrations would be organised by his party. Mr Gotewala recalled the role played by late Diwan K. M. Panikar, and Chief Engineer Kanwar Sen of the erstwhile Bikaner state at the time of Partition and said that it was due to their historic efforts that the Ferozepur Head Work located in Tehsil Fazilka providing water to Gang canal could be included in India and thus the agriculturists of Punjab and Rajasthan were saved from a catastrophe. |
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SC orders status
quo on Haryana New Delhi, June 21 The state government had allegedly engaged in a tug-of-war with the
High Court on the procedure for appointing the SCDRC president.
A vacation Bench of Mr Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice
P.V. Reddi, while issuing the notice to the High Court’s Registrar
General, directed that a “status quo” be maintained regarding the
implementation of the May 27 order till the next date of hearing. The
next date of hearing would be fixed by the Apex Court Registry.
The High Court in its May 27 order had directed the Haryana
Government to make the appointment to the post of the SCDRC president
“as expeditiously as possible” and in any case not later than one
month, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and Haryana’s standing counsel
Neeraj Jain said.
Haryana’s counsel said the High Court was wrong in concluding
that the government was denuded of the power to even prepare a panel
for the approval of High Court’s Chief Justice for the appointment
of the SCDRC president. “it was an incorrect interpretation of the
legal position in the face of the explicit mandate of Section 16(1A)
of the Consumer Protection Act.”
The controversy regarding the appointment arose with Chief Minister
Om Prakash Chautala writing a letter to the High Court Chief Justice
on August 25, 2003, “conveying his feeling” that former Guwahati
High Court Chief Justice R. S. Mongia “will be a befitting incumbent
for the post of the SCDRC president”, the government in its petition
stated.
In a reply to the letter, the High Court Chief Justice wrote back
to the Chief Minister on August 26, 2003, saying that he had in his
mind names of few judges who belonged to the Haryana Bar and Haryana
Superior Judicial Service and “will be most suitable to be appointed
as the president of the commission” .
The petition stated on August 27, 2003, the Chief Justice
recommended the names of former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge R.
C. Kathuria for the post, which the government did not agree on the
ground that the court’s collegium had only considered one name out
of three.
“The names of Mr Justice R. S. Mongia and Mr Justice K. C. Gupta
were not considered on merit for reasons that Mr Justice Mongia was
elevated from the Punjab Bar and belonged to Punjab and Mr Justice
Gupta, who belonged to Haryana and was due to retire on February 3,
2004, could not be relieved by the High Court,” it said.
The appointment of the SCDRC president was necessitated due to
retirement of its the then president, Mr Justice Amarjeet Chaudhary,
on September 4, 2003.
The Chief Minister in his subsequent communication to the Chief
Justice on October 29, 2003, had expressed his reservations on Mr
Justice Kathuria being appointed as president and requested that the
collegium “reconsider the previous recommendations and send suitable
recommendation in place thereof...”, the petition said.
In the wake of the tug-of-war between the Chief Minister and the
Chief Justice, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the
High Court on October 31, last year, while the Chief Justice in his
letter on December 17, 2003, wrote to the Chief Minister that the
collegium had decided not to recall its earlier decision, appointing
Mr Justice R. C. Kathuria as the SCDRC president.
The High Court in its judicial order on the PIL on May 27 directed
the Haryana Government to make the appointment within a month, which
the state has now challenged in the Supreme Court. |
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‘Witness too involved in Siachen killings’ Jodhpur, June 21 “It is a fake encounter and you did it at the instance of
Col K.D. Singh,” Major Surinder Singh asked Capt Ashwani Kumar Gaur about the August 8 encounter during cross-examination. When Captain Gaur replied in the negative claiming that the encounter led by him was real, Major Surinder Singh asked as to how the dead enemy’s body was seen still lying in the video shoot of the terrain next day. Since the encounter was in the night, the dead body could remain there till next morning only if there was retaliatory firing by enemy troops, which was not there, he said. Captain Gaur said he did not know as to why the enemy’s body was lying till the next morning saying he had orally reported the incident immediately to Major Surinder Singh. Captain Gaur said his unit had no video camera to shoot the actual encounter in which one enemy soldier was killed. “We requisitioned a camera and two video cassettes and shot the video footage of the terrain the next day morning to verify the encounter”. The military court is recording summary evidence in the Siachen fake killings case as a follow up of a court of inquiry which held Col K.D. Singh and Major R. Lamba responsible for administrative lapses and recommended disciplinary action against Major Surinder Singh for making exaggerated claims.
— PTI |
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Captain alleges threat from
‘fake-killings’ accused Jodhpur, June 21 “I won’t spare you,” the Major was said to have told his junior officer during a recess in the proceedings today. Recording Officer Brig Philip Campose then asked the two officers to sit in separate rooms and not to talk to each other during recess in future. Capt Gaur had claimed earlier also that Major Singh had threatened him. During his cross-examination today, Major Singh asked him questions relating to an encounter in August 2003 to prove his point that the encounter was fake. Major Singh reiterated the charge that the encounters were faked on Brigade Commander Col. K.D. Singh’s orders.
— UNI |
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Declare Bakery absconders as POs: Gujarat police Vadodara, June 21 After the Supreme Court order of April 12 for a re-trial of the case in Maharashtra, the police has arrested seven of the 21 accused, while one has been granted bail by the apex court. The appeal was made by the police on Saturday, city Police Commissioner Suidhirkumar Sinha said adding that once the accused were declared offenders, property attachment orders could be issued against them. Fourteen persons, most of them from the minority community, were killed in a carnage at Best Bakery here on March 1, 2002. Although 21 accused were tried by a fast-track court, they were acquitted since witnesses turned hostile. The Gujarat High Court also upheld the lower court order acquitting them. Later, prime witness Zaheera Sheikh moved the Supreme Court with the help of an NGO, seeking a re-trial of the accused outside the state on the ground that she had been intimidated. The Supreme Court had then ordered the Bombay High Court to set up a special court for the re-trial of the 21 accused in the case.
— PTI |
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Bill to
alleviate plight of AP farmers Hyderabad, June 21 The
AP Farmers’ Agricultural Debts (Moratorium) Bill, 2004, provides for a
moratorium on agriculture-related loans of farmers taken from private
moneylenders in the state for a period of six months. The Revenue
Minister, Mr D Prasada Rao, who piloted the Bill, said that the
legislation was necessitated by large-scale suicides being resorted to
by the farmers following drought conditions prevailing in the state for
successive years. The Opposition parties, however, found fault with the
government for leaving out commercial banking establishments and
cooperative institutions from the Bill’s ambit, terming it as being an
“empty gesture” that could hardly inspire any confidence in the
debt-trapped farmers. “The Bill is not comprehensive and does not
serve the purpose for which it has been brought before the House,”
Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu said. |
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Trade unions to press for 12 pc EPF interest New Delhi, June 21 “No meeting has taken place during six years of the NDA government between the Prime Minister and trade unions. Wednesday’s meeting is coming on Dr Singh’s own initiative which is a welcome gesture,” CITU secretary W.R. Vardharajan told UNI. Leaders of CITU, AITUC, HMS, BMS, INTUC, UTUC, UTU (S-L) and from National Federation of Indian Trade Unions will be meeting the Prime Minister at his official residence on Wednesday. The CITU leader said trade unions would impress upon Dr Singh that the government should treat the EPF and pension fund as social security expenditure and give at 12 per cent interest on them. He pointed out that the country spends 1.5 per cent of the GDP on social security unlike Sri Lanka’s 3 per cent, China’s 6 per cent and 40 per cent by developed countries. Also, trade unions will urge Dr Singh to revise the administrative rate of interest upwards on the General Provident Fund if the government was really sincere to give relief. Up to June 2000, the GPF interest was 12 per cent, which has now been brought down to 8 per cent, he observed. Among other points they will raise during their meeting with the PM will demand for a new pro-urban poor scheme, on the lines of National Employment Guarantee Scheme for the rural poor. Union leaders, said Mr Vardharajan, would also urge Dr Singh to ensure protection of the workers’ right to strike. — UNI |
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CBI arrests Telgi’s driver Belgaum, June 21 A CBI team from Mumbai, headed by its Superintendent of Police, Mr Sutrajitsingh Kapoor, descended on Khanapur, the home town of Telgi last week, looking for Daniel, official sources said here. With the help of local police, the team managed to nab the accused. He was interrogated at Khanapur, but details of the revelations made by him were not immediately known. The CBI, which has been probing the case, wanted to extract information about the movements of Telgi from the driver, which would throw light on the activities of the fake stamp paper kingpin, sources said. Daniel has been taken to Mumbai for further questioning, the sources said.
— PTI |
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Technology changes, changes everything Kochi, June 21 Besides being contactable while they are in the sea, they can also contact people in case of a contingency." Reliance India Mobile launched the service 12 months ago and has made a drastic change to the fishermen community here. "Before we launched, a few rich fishermen possessed a mobile phone. We provided mobiles at an unimagined entry cost of Rs 501, which made mobile phone a reality even to the poor fishermen," Mr Babu added. Christopher, a fisherman who owns a small boat, says, "In November last, soon after I bought my mobile phone, I packed my food, water and the phone and left for the deep waters. While we were fishing, we were hit by a major storm and all four of us were thrown into the water. I called other fishermen at the sea for help on my phone." Kerala is one of the states where fishing is the major activity, providing livelihood to a large section of the population. In fact, more than 30 per cent of the total active fishermen in the country are in Kerala. Fishing contributes significantly to the state exchequer also. There lies a huge potential for the mobile industry in this state. Hundreds of motorised canoes and fishing boats set out every day from various shores in Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Kochi, Alleppy and Kozhikode. Looking at the uncertainties attached when these fishermen, mobile phone is a necessity. Mr Primal Thomas, owner of ELTE Marine Products, said, "Entry of mobile companies like the BSNL, Reliance and Escotel has also made a huge impact on the laws of economics here. Earlier, once the fishermen caught enough fish, they would come to the coast and sell their catch to the agents. The fisherman had no choice but to accept the price offered by the agents. Now, the fisherman directly calls up various distributors or exporters from the sea using his phone, and pulls to the shore where his buyer is. As he is not already berthed to the shore, the agents and distributors cannot dictate an unacceptable price. He sells the catch to the one who offers him the best price." Father Vadakkan Kocherry, secretary, Kerala Men Thozhilali Association, says the mobile phones have changed the fishing business in the state. Till a year ago, the fishermen used to sell ribbon fish, which is exported to China and Korea, to the middleman at Rs 8 per kg and he used to sell it to the exporters at Rs 13 a kg. Now the fishermen call the exporters up and sell it for a better price. In a way the mobile phone has eliminated the middlemen. The mobile phone has made life simpler not only for the fisherman but also for the common man in the state. Joseph, a boatman driving tourists to the sea, has a mobile phone and he states, "The mobile phone has made a huge difference to our business. Now even if I am not at my boat, tourists contact me on my phone. We get advance booking through the mobile phones". |
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Indo-US space meet kicks off Bangalore, June 21 Though he did no elaborate on the veiled reference to each country needing to give the other sufficient strategic understanding and room to
manoeuvre, he stressed on the need to build on the “human and technological assets” of both countries, and intensify the engagement at government-to-government and technical agency level. He said that India was a country of key strategic importance to the US, and “I know American business and scientific leaders are eager to engage. Our cooperation is steadily improving. In sector after sector, collaboration and alliances are the new norm.” He read out a message from US President George W. Bush, who stated that India and the US, sharing more than four decades of co-operation in space, and that the conference would identify new opportunities for civil space cooperation and that it would “reflect our common spirit of discovery and innovation.” Inaugurating the conference, Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj
Chavan, read out a message of support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said: “As two space faring nations, the sky is no longer the limit of our cooperation. Strong economic ties in high technology based on mutual trust can greatly supplement our shared values and political interests in providing an enduring foundation for a strategic partnership.” ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair recalled the early phases of Indo-US cooperation in space, like the launch of the US built Nike-Apache rocket in 1963 from
Thumba, the first sounding-rocket to be launched from Indian soil, the educational television experiment programme using a US satellite ATS-6 and the contract with Ford Aerospace for the INSAT-1 satellite and launches using Delta and the Space shuttle.
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Convict’s family threatens suicide Kolkata, June 21 Holding banners of ‘Please pardon Dhanjay Chatterjee in response to earnest appeal by his old parents and wife’, about 25 persons, including Chatterjee’s father Bansidhar, mother Bela Rani and wife Poornima from the Chatna village in Bankura district held a sit-in before the Calcutta Press Club. “This is our fervent appeal to West Bengal Governor Viren J Shah to consider clemency. If Dhanajay is hanged, seven members of his family will commit suicide,” the convict’s father, Mr Bansidhar Chatterjee, said. When they tried to proceed towards Raj Bhavan nearby, the police stopped them and made them board the bus in which they had come to the mertropolis for being escorted back to their village. |
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Dejected lover kills classmate Hyderabad, June 21 Sri Lakshmi,
an MCA second-year student of Sarada College at Vijayawada, a coastal town 275 km from here, was in the classroom along with friends when Manoher, a classmate who had been
stalking her for the past one year, barged into the room and stabbed her, killing her on the spot. Sri Lakshmi, an orphan, was pursuing her MCA with the help of her relatives who stay in Hyderabad. Ms Sumalatha, a close friend of Lakshmi, said:
"Manoher was able to kill Lakshmi because nobody had offered any resistance or helped
the victim." Witnesses said students and lecturers who were present in the classroom, instead of rescuing Lakshmi, ran out scared. It was only after Ms Sumalatha, who was informed on phone, came in that Lakshmi was rushed to the hospital, but by then, much time
had been lost and she was declared dead on reaching there. |
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Brindavan Garden to be renovated Bangalore, June 21 A massive restoration plan of over Rs
5 crore is on the anvil for this once beautiful garden under which
refurbishing of fountains, waterbodies, pathways and lighting will be
taken up, said Horticulture Department Director Vasanth Kumar. The work
will be carried out by engineers of the Irrigation Department and the
Cauvery Neeravari Nigam while garden development will be done by the
Horticulture Department, he said. Created by master engineer and
statesman Sir M. Visveswaraya, the garden over the years has been losing
its charm due to poor maintenance, inadequate illumination, parched
greenery, damaged fountains and stench of weed-ridden pond. The
renovation work is expected to be completed before Dasehra. The garden
will now have 16 new pressure fountains which will run on recirculated
water throughout the year. — PTI |
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Plea to isolate terrorism supporters New Delhi, June 21 The UN, through an
international experts group, after drafting a definition of ‘terrorist
acts’ with benchmarks to designate terrorist groups on regular basis,
can consider this listing for collective action against such states,
terror groups, leaders and their affiliates, the declaration
said. Announcing the outcome of the two-day deliberations last evening,
President of ‘Strategic Foresight Group’ Sundeep Waslekar said
terrorism should be recognised as a global problem and not something
that was area, region or country specific and that linking it to any
religion was misleading and inappropriate. “Our recommendations
include introducing a new arrangement to complement the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
to secure fissile material and nuclear weapons by seizure or by transfer
from terrorist groups or states with a track record of supporting
terrorism.” The UN Charter should be reviewed to explore a fresh
global approach based on fair rules, for ‘use of force’ by the
states which are designed to deal with terrorism, ethnic cleansing and
genocide, along with an initiative to introduce ‘reform education’
and ‘promote tolerance’ for all religions, he told
mediapersons. Above all, in the long term, sustainable global security
should be addressed by eradicating poverty, respecting human rights and
establishing the rule of law. About 30 scholars, politicians and
experts of the western and Islamic nations held the two-day
international ‘round table’ to formulate a common sustainable global
security framework to ‘construct peace and deconstruct terror’,
besides preparing a ‘plan of action’ that would help deal with
terror after sensitising world leaders on it. Participants included
Vice-Chairman of International Crisis Group Stephen Solarz, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Vidar Helgesen, Member of the UN
Secretary General High Level Panel on New Threats and Challenges, Lt-Gen
Satish Nambiar and former Union minister Jana Krishnamurthy. The
discussions reportedly had the ‘blessings’ of the offices of US
President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. — UNI |
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HC tells Kanshi Ram’s kin to amend plea New Delhi, June 21 Mr Justice
B.N. Chaturvedi told the family to file their reply by tomorrow whether or not they had any objections to the BSP becoming party to the case. The Judge also asked the mother and brothers to amend their petition to include the request seeking to move the senior leader from the private hospital, where he is convalescing at present, to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, as this had not been sought initially. On June 18, the BSP had approached the High Court seeking to contest the petition filed by the mother and brothers of the veteran leader who sought “free access” to the Member of Parliament, hospitalised for the past eight months due to various complications. Arguing before Mr Justice Chaturvedi, BSP counsel S.C. Mishra sought to be impleaded in the case to rebutt certain allegations made in the petition against the party and its members. Claiming that Mr Kanshi Ram’s mother Bishan Kaur and brothers Harbans and Dalbara Singh had not shown any concern till now but had raked up the issue just before the elections, Mr Mishra alleged that they were only abusing the process of law. Mr Kanshi Ram’s mother and brothers had also sought to move the senior leader from Batra Hospital to the AIIMS. Counsel for the private hospital said Batra had no objection to the move. On June 4, the High Court had “allowed” close relatives to visit Mr Kanshi Ram at the city hospital where he is recuperating after being operated upon to clear three blocked arteries. Mr Justice O.P. Dwivedi had said the family members, including his mother, were free to visit Mr Kanshi Ram at the hospital as per its timings and rules. The Judge also sought the latest medical report of the MP, including one on the blood toxin level, by June 23. Family’s counsel Vikas Sharma said the BSP leader’s mother and brothers were being denied “access” to Mr Kanshi Ram and also sought that Mr Bishan Kaur be given charge of her ailing son and they be allowed to take him to some other hospital. However, Batra Hospital counsel, terming the petition “frivolous”, denied that the family had ever been stopped from meeting Mr Kanshi Ram or that he had been “confined” by the hospital authorities. He was getting the medical attention available, it was added. — UNI |
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Israeli firm to provide training in drip irrigation New Delhi, June 21 “In India we have implemented this system of training in 2003 and so far thousands of farmers all over the country have been trained by us. We are now formalising it as Netafim Irrigation University as we feel that drip irrigation in India is expanding at the fastest pace compared to any other country worldwide,” Netafim India managing director Zvi Feler said in a statement here. The new university would train Netafim India’s staff, dealers, farmers, government officials, students and NGO representatives among others in the field of drip irrigation and fertigation, which is an effective fertilisation method through drip irrigation.
— PTI |
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Yash Johar’s condition critical Mumbai, June 21 |
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In video: N. D. Tiwari
to downsize his Cabinet.
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