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Andhra CM gets reprieve in MLA’s murder case
Laloo's car brought to Gandhinagar for forensic tests
Gujarat Governor calls on Patil
NDA to boycott Parliament for three days
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Cong seeks apology from BJP
Gujral told me to go slow on Laloo:
ex-CBI chief
UPA govt faces roadblock
in passing of Bills
Shot militant was Pakistani, says Joint Commissioner
SC stays Calcutta HC order convicting Biman Bose for contempt
Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development Kapil Sibal just prior to the flagging-off ceremony of Vigyan Rail in New Delhi on Tuesday. — ANI
photo
SC issues notice to TN police on bail plea of blast accused
India ratifies N-safety convention
Collector accused of sexual harassment
PIB officers must upgrade their skills: Jaipal Reddy
Special court may try rape case
NHRC probe into branding of undertrial sought
NHRC takes notice of youth’s caging
US equipment for Indian peacekeepers
Probe against ‘Asian hero’ bureaucrat
Sudarshan’s remarks figure at RSS meeting
Address NGOs as societal transformers, says Kalam
Co-accused’s reply sought in Taslimuddin case
Sudhir Vyas new envoy to Bhutan
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Andhra CM gets reprieve in MLA’s murder case
Hyderabad, April 26 After a three-month-long investigation into the sensational murder, the CBI today filed a charge sheet before a local court in Anantapur. In a relief to the government, the charge sheet did not make any mention of the Chief Minister’s son, Panchayati Raj Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy and senior IPS officer R.P. Meena who had figured in the FIR. The relatives of the slain legislator and the opposition TDP have been alleging that they were involved in the killing. The 700-page charge sheet was filed before the court of the First Class Additional Magistrate at Anantapur, naming 13 persons as the accused, including G. Suryanarayana Reddy, alias Suri, who is believed to have masterminded the killing of the MLA at Anantapur on January 24. Ravindra, a former minister from the faction-ridden Rayalaseema region, was gunned down in broad daylight while he was coming out of the TDP office after attending a party meeting. With the Opposition pointing an accusing finger at his son and his senior Cabinet colleague, the Chief Minister ordered a CBI probe into the case. The CBI interrogated 139 suspects, including Bhanumathi, wife of the prime suspect Gangula Suri, a Congress supporter at present serving a jail sentence in the infamous Jubilee Hills bomb blast case, which was targeted at Ravi. As part of the investigation, the CBI recorded the statements of Diwakar Reddy and Inspector-General of Police (Rayalaseema region) Meena. The charge sheet mentions Suri as the prime accused in the case along with 12 others. The murder of Ravi had triggered a political furore in the state with the Opposition accusing the Rajasekhar Reddy government of resorting to targeted killings. |
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Laloo's car brought to Gandhinagar for forensic tests
Gandhinagar, April 26 The Chevrolet Optra car (GJ-6 X-1963) was a taxi hired by the Railway authorities in Vadodara. Its rear screen had been damaged in the alleged attack during his visit to Vadodara's Sayajirao Gaekwad Hospital. Investigating Officer Inspector Vimal Rajvanshi of the Raopura Police Station of Vadodara, where the Government Railway Police had registered a case last week, brought the car at the Directorate of Forensic Sciences here along with some "broken pieces of glass", FSL sources said. Mr Yadav had alleged that the Sangh Pariwar activists had attacked his car in the hospital premises and blamed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with "masterminding" the assault on his life. A three-member BJP Parliamentary "fact-finding team", headed by Mr Sushil Kumar Modi, later claimed that it was, in fact, Mr Yadav who had "faked" the alleged attack on himself since no glass pieces were found inside the car and that the rear screen may possibly have been broken from
inside. FSL Director J. M. Vyas refused to elaborate on the kind of tests the car would be subjected to but said a "series of tests" were likely before anything could be said conclusively.
— UNI |
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Gujarat Governor calls on Patil
New Delhi, April 26 During the 20-minute meeting, Mr Sharma is understood to have briefed the Home Minister on the April 21 incident and also the present law and order situation in the state. The meeting of the Gujarat Governor assumes significance as Mr Yadav had demanded the immediate dismissal of Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government, alleging that activists of the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal were behind the “murderous attack” on him when he had gone to Vadodara to see persons injured in the rail accident there. The Home Ministry, however, tried to play down today’s meeting between Mr Sharma and Mr Patil. An official at the Home Minister’s Secretariat said Mr Sharma, who reached here yesterday, sought an appointment with Mr Patil, which was agreed to. Emerging out of the meeting, Mr Sharma declined to comment. |
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NDA to boycott Parliament for three days
New Delhi, April 26 The decision of the NDA comes even as Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has convened a meeting of leaders of parties tomorrow to resolve the impasse and appealed to the Opposition to reconsider its decision. Emerging out of the meeting, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, NDA convener George Fernandes said: “The NDA has decided to take this step to vent its protest on a host of issues including continuation of the Railway Minister against whom charges of cheating has been framed, in the Cabinet and the attitude of the government towards the Opposition.” Terming the continuation of Mr Laloo Yadav in the Cabinet as a “serious issue”, Mr Fernandes said the NDA would meet again after three days to decide on the future course of action. “The kind of attitude shown towards the Leader of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament indicates that the government does not want the Opposition,” Mr Fernandes, flanked by BJP President L.K. Advani and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Jaswant Singh, told newspersons. |
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Cong seeks apology from BJP
New Delhi, April 26 Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters that BJP members in the Rajya Sabha showed disrespect to Parliament and undermined the dignity of the institution by their despicable behaviour and the abusive language they used against a lady minister. Expressing shock over the incident, Mr Sharma said BJP members not only raised slogans in the House but crossed over to the other side and virtually assaulted a leader of the a UPA constituent. He said what was even more shocking was that the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Jaswant Singh, sat silently through this unseemly incident, making no effort to intervene. Condemning the incident, Mr Sharma charged that such abusive language had never been used inside the House before. Mr Sharma also ruled out the resignation of Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav as was being demanded by the BJP, adding that the Opposition had adopted double standards in this case. He recalled that during the NDA regime, the then prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had stated in Parliament that there was no need for his Cabinet colleagues L.K.Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and others to resign in the Ayodhya case merely because charges had been framed against them. |
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Gujral told me to go slow on Laloo:
ex-CBI chief
New Delhi, April 26 According to a press note issued by Aaj Tak, Mr Joginder Singh was removed from his post for not listening to the government and going ahead with the framing of the charges against the then Bihar Chief Minister. “The accusations have raised a serious question on the government’s role (interference) in the functioning of India’s premier investigation institution such as the CBI,” it said. It quoted Mr Joginder Singh as saying that Mr Gujral was shielding Mr Yadav. “When I informed Mr Gujral about the issue, he asked me to go slow. I told him to give it (the order) to me in writing. He (Mr Gujral) said: You know I am the Prime Minister? I said yes and added that you are not suppose to know what is going on between me and the Patna High Court,” the press note quoted Mr Joginder Singh as saying. It said Mr Joginder Singh had written about it and Mr Gujral never denied it. It further added that when asked what Mr Gujral told him, Mr Joginder Singh said, “Mr Gujral told me that Mr Laloo is from my party, don’t arrest him. If you want to go ahead with the proceedings, go ahead, but don’t arrest him.” Mr Joginder Singh further added that “the matter didn’t stop there and he got another call from the then Home Minister, Mr Indrajit Gupta, asking him go slow and save himself and his job.” The former CBI chief was quoted as saying that his tenure came to an abrupt end as he was removed from his post after returning from an Interpol meet in France. |
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UPA govt faces roadblock
in passing of Bills
New Delhi, April 26 The UPA government is completing one year in office next month and it wants to publicise all its achievements to celebrate this occasion. It particularly wants to highlight that it is serious about implementing the commitments listed in the
CMP. However, its plans have hit a roadblock as far as legislative business is concerned. A slew of legislations, promised in the
CMP, were introduced in Parliament in the last session and subsequently referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committees for indepth scrutiny. The government has been banking on passing these Bills in the ongoing session but its plans are going awry as the standing committees have yet to complete their work and present their reports to Parliament. Of the dozen-odd Bills sent to the standing
committees, the reports on only two - The Right to Information Bill and the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Bill - have been submitted to Parliament so far. The UPA government is keen that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, the Bill providing constitutional status to the National Commission for Minorities and the amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, giving a woman equal rights in her father’s property, should go through this session. This is especially so since the UPA government and the Congress in particular have consistently flayed the NDA government for ignoring the rural poor. The Congress had made this a major election issue and listed employment generation in rural areas as its topmost priority. The session ends on May 13 while the UPA government completes one year in office by May-end. The Centre would like to add the passage of these Bills to its list of fulfilled promises by then. Since time is running out, the UPA managers are making frantic efforts to expedite the clearance of these Bills by the standing committees as these have to be discussed in both the Houses prior to their passage. The Lok Sabha is preoccupied with financial business till May 2 with legislative business being taken in the remaining 10 days. Given the present opposition mood and the constant disruptions in Parliament, UPA mangers are faced with an uphill task. This issue figured at length at the Congress party’s first meeting of the newly-constituted Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) yesterday. The meeting was chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi and attended by ministers for defence, home and parliamentary affairs and senior leaders, including Ambika Soni and Ahmed Patel. While expressing concern over the delay in the presentation of the reports, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was asked to expedite the process. Consequently, Mr Azad and Mr P.K. Bansal, Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, today held two rounds of discussion with their party MPs, who are members of the standing committees concerned, and asked them to take greater interest in the proceedings of the parliamentary panels. They were told to urge the chairpersons of their respective committees to take up these Bill on a priority basis as it is felt that they have not been pursuing the matter vigorously enough. The committees scrutinising the Rural Employment Bill and the Bill on Minorities Commission are headed by BJP leaders Kalyan Singh and Sumitra Mahajan while the panel looking into the amended Hindu Succession Act is chaired by Congress MP
E.N. Nachiappan. While the government could blame the Opposition leaders for deliberately delaying the presentation of the legislations, it is unable to explain the slackness displayed by its own party members. |
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No VAT on CSD sales in Punjab
New Delhi, April 26 Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said CSD sales had been exempted from sales tax and accordingly the matter was raised in the meeting of the National Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers held in the Capital today. The committee decided to leave it to the states to decide about the levy of VAT on CSD sales. He said the rates of VAT on petroleum products, including petrol and kerosene, would remain the same as in the sales tax regime. He said the state government would not levy VAT on
fertilisers and pesticides in order to help farmers. The Chief Minister said Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla would meet associations of trade and industry to help tackle problems in the implementation of VAT. He said after the Finance Minister gives his report, the Council of Ministers would take appropriate decisions to ensure smooth transition from sales tax to VAT. The Chief Minister today met Union Finance Minister P. Chidambram, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav regarding demands and projects of the state. In his meeting with the Finance Minister Capt Amarinder Singh sought waiver of the security-related expenditure incurred by the state during the period of terrorism. He also held discussions with Mr Chidambram on the state’s Plan. In his meeting with Mr Baalu, the Chief Minister demanded development of some roads in the state with funding from the Central Road Fund under the inter-state connectivity scheme. He also pointed to the need for four-laning of the Zirakpur-Patiala section of NH-64 and Ludhiana-Moga section of NH-95. |
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Shot militant was Pakistani, says Joint Commissioner
New Delhi, April 26 During their search the sleuths recovered an election identity card in the name of Mohammad Amin Bhatt, resident of Doda, Jammu and Kashmir, and a pocket dairy having the name of Osama, resident of Sialkot, Pakistan, was also recovered from him. The diary also contained satellite telephone numbers and other telephone numbers of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir and e-mail IDs of Rediff and Yahoo. Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh said the technical surveillance and the recoveries reveal that the militant was a Pakistani. The search of the other militant also led to the recovery of another election card in the name of Mansoor Ahmed Wani, resident of Doda and a pocket dairy containing satellite telephone numbers of Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. “We have sent the documents to the J&K police for further verification and to establish the identity of the slain militants,” added Mr Karnal Singh. The examination of the Thuraya satellite phone also revealed that it contained telephone numbers of LeT commanders based in Pakistan and that the terrorists were in constant touch with them. The car which was impounded last night had the registration number DL 3CK-3792. A registration certificate in the name of Wani, resident of Gaffar Manzil, Jamia Nagar, was found from it. Moreover, the address mentioned in the certificate did not exist and further verification with the Transport Department revealed that the vehicle belonged to New Jain Software Technology, Qutab Institutional Area. The said vehicle was sold to Sumita Singh of Hisar. Since some toll tax receipts of Haryana and petrol receipts of filling stations of Jammu and Haryana were recovered from the car, teams have been sent to Haryana and Jammu. Two .30 calibre pistols, one AK-56 assault rifle with two loaded magazines containing 59 cartridges, one satellite phone, one ABCD timer, one ordinary timer, four electronic detonators, 2 kg of RDX along with other incriminating documents were also seized. |
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SC stays Calcutta HC order convicting Biman Bose for contempt
New Delhi, April 26 He was awarded three day’s sentence by the high court which found him guilty of contempt of court for making “derogatory” remarks against the judge, who had passed the order for banning the rallies in Kolkata during the daytime between 8 a.m. and 8.p.m. A Bench of Mr Justice Y K Sabharwal and Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee stayed the order of the high court, following senior advocate Fali S Nariman appearing for Bose. He made a special mention in his appeal against the impugned judgement. Nariman sought its early hearing. Bose had filed a Special leave petition
(SLP) against the Calcutta High Court order on April 21. The high court in its March 31 judgment, had found Bose guilty of contempt of court, holding that he had denounced the judiciary and Justice Amitava Lala, who had passed the ban order. The Court had banned the rallies by taking into consideration the inconvenience caused by them to common man. The high court had imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Bose. But it had suspended the operation of its order for four weeks, giving the Left Front Chairman time to file appeal in the apex court. Bose in his appeal had claimed he had not made any “derogatory” remarks against any judge and nor had he undermined the authority of the judiciary. |
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Second Vigyan Mail flagged off
New Delhi, April 26 Comprising 12 exhibition coaches, the train will cover 26 cities spanning and halt for three or four days each in a city. It will reach Karnal in Haryana tomorrow and will leave for Moradabad after three days. Among other stations it will halt at Chandausi, Sitapur, Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Jhansi, Bokaro, Hatia, Raurkela, Khargapur, Guntur, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Wardha, Ujjain, Surat and Bhavnagar and reach Delhi on July 8. Mr Sibal said: “The Vigyan Mail is aimed at spreading the message of science, the Nehruvian vision of scientific temper, across the country. It will also show to the masses the progress made by India in the field of science and technology.” “ I strongly feel that science must benefit the common man and should reach him. Otherwise it has little relevance in our society,” he said. The train exhibits major activities and achievements in the field of the IT, Atomic Energy, telecommunications, water conservation, vision of inter-linking of rivers, Indian expeditions to Antarctica, marine research, environment and forests besides achievements of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Various models and panels of some of the tanks, missiles, aircraft developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, non-conventional energy models and products developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Indian Space Research Organisation will also be exhibited. |
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SC issues notice to TN police on bail plea of blast accused
New Delhi, April 26 The police had alleged the blasts were aimed at eliminating the BJP leader. Madni, who claims himself to be the founder Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, is at present lodged in judicial custody. His bail petition had been dismissed by the trial court and the Madras High Court earlier many times. Thirtynine-year-old Madni has sought bail on health grounds, stating that he is a physically handicapped person, a diabetic, suffering from hypertension and coronary artery disease and several other ailments. Besides Madni, seven other accused arrested by the state police were facing trial for murder of so many people and hatching the conspiracy to cause the explosions. |
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India ratifies N-safety convention
New Delhi, April 26 India is the fiftyfirst among the 56 contracting nations which attended the two-week review meeting at the UN International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna recently. The issue of nuclear safety was deliberated upon in detail, according to a statement by the UN. India has 14 nuclear reactors producing 2,770 MW of electricity. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is constructing eight more reactors totalling 3,960 MW which will be operational by 2008, taking the installed capacity to 6,780 MW. The target is to progressively increase nuclear power generation to 20,000 MW by 2020. All signatories to the convention have to submit reports to the
IAEA, covering construction, operation and regulation of their civilian nuclear power plants. The Vienna session has specifically urged IAEA Director-General Mohamed El Baradei to convene meetings with member states to discuss how best to ensure effective application of the code of conduct on the safety of research reactors. |
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Collector accused of sexual harassment
Bhopal, April 26 The Principal, Ms Shraddha Jha, has complained to the government that the Collector, Mr S.K.Paul, has been sexually harassing her for some time. She has made the complaint to the Chief Secretary who is said to have directed the Indore Commissioner, Mr Suraj Damor, to enquire into the matter. Ms Jha has also made written complaints to the Inspector- General of Police of the zone, the DIG of the Range and the SP of the district and has sought protection against the Collector's "mischief". Mr Paul has, on the other hand, complained to the Regional Commissioner and Commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan that Ms Jha was indulging in illegal activities and should be removed from the school. According to Mr Paul, Ms Jha has permitted the “favourite” person to sit in the school "without my permission as I am the chairman of the
Vidyalaya samiti". |
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PIB officers must upgrade their skills: Jaipal Reddy
New Delhi, April 26 Delivering the inaugural address at the two-day PIB regional and branch officers conference here on Tuesday, Mr Reddy said new technologies in media have created great responsibilities. He said the government would provide the required technical and training support to the PIB officers to enable them to tap the new technology for effective communication. Mr Reddy also inaugurated the new intranet facility for the PIB headquarters that has been developed with the latest interactive technology. The PIB is one of the first Central Government organisations to acquire this effective tool for communication between officers at the headquarters and the 42 regional and branch offices of the PIB spread throughout the country. Secretary (I&B), Naveen Chawla said all modern tools needed for quick dissemination of information should be made available to the PIB officers. He suggested that the conference of the PIB regional and branch officers be held at least twice a year in different parts of the country. |
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Special court may try rape case
Mumbai, April 26 As protests across Mumbai continued for the fourth day yesterday. Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil spoke to senior Law Department officials about setting up a special fast-track court to try More, sources said. Women and students’ groups have hit the streets, demanding strict action against More. People have also demanded that the police give an assurance that such incidents do not take place in future. According to the police, the constable called the girl and a male friend who were walking along the Marine Drive promenade for questioning. The youth was chased away and the girl raped thrice by the policeman. After the girl began to scream, in passersby descended on the police chowki. More was then arrested and taken away to prevent being lynched by the mob. The women’s groups are demanding that police posts across the city be made of transparent material. Residents’ associations have demanded that all police stations and chowkies have male and female police personnel to prevent such an incident from recurring. |
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NHRC probe into branding of undertrial sought
New Delhi, April 26 According to the news report, Mohan Lal, a co-accused in a murder case, alleged that the jail officers etched ‘neevi jaat’ (low caste) on his back with hot iron rods. The ACHR said it had requested the NHRC to send its investigation team to enquire into the incident and initiate a legal action for prosecuting the guilty jail officers who tattooed ‘neevi jaat’ on Mohan Lal’s back. It had also directed the Punjab Government to provide the undertrial medical treatment either at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences or Apollo Hospital in New Delhi and the money spent on plastic surgery for removing the tattoo should be recovered from the guilty jail officers. Seeking compensation for the victim, the ACHR has requested the NHRC to suspend the guilty officers. |
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NHRC takes notice of youth’s caging
New Delhi, April. 26 The report and the photograph showed that the mentally-challenged youth, Praveen Manjhi, had been forced to live in a 6”X4” cage for the past nine months because of his violent behaviour. He lost his mental balance two years ago. The commission has sent a copy of the news report to the Chief Secretary, Jharkhand, and sought his comments within two weeks. |
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US equipment for Indian peacekeepers
New Delhi, April. 26 The grant will be used to provide additional equipment and training supporting India’s extensive peacekeeping capability. Of the total sum, $ 5 lakh has been allocated to purchase equipment and the rest of the amount will be used for training related to peacekeeping. |
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Probe against ‘Asian hero’ bureaucrat
Patna, April 26 Chief Secretary K.A.H. Subramanian said today that he had ordered a vigilance probe into charges that Gautam Goswami and others had illegally diverted over Rs 170 million that was meant for providing relief to the victims of last year’s devastating floods. If required, a police report would be filed against Goswami and other officers, Mr Subramanian said. As the District Magistrate of Patna, Goswami was the nodal officer for flood relief operations. Time had cited Goswami for his “brilliant work” over the years, notably for coordinating the flood relief and rescue operations last year when hundreds of people were killed and thousands rendered homeless in the floods. Goswami had quit the IAS and joined a private conglomerate before the scam broke. Mr Subramanian said the state government had not accepted Goswami’s resignation and if needed, he would be called back for explaining his position and facing legal formalities. “The evidence against him prima facie shows he is guilty of irregularities of Rs 17 crore that was meant for flood relief,” official sources said. Goswami claims to have paid Rs 170 million to the Bihar State Small-Scale Industries Corporation (BSSIC) for providing relief material. This money, according to records in Goswami’s office, was paid to a BSSIC employee named B.K. Singh. The corporation has categorically denied receiving the money or that there is a B.K. Singh on its rolls. The corporation says that it supplied relief material worth Rs 2.2 million, against which it has so far been paid Rs 1.3 million.
— IANS |
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Gangsters beat up cops in Lucknow jail
Lucknow, April 26 What is apparent is that Alambagh police station SI Arun Kumar, along with head constable Rajendra Prasad and a local gym owner, Vishal, had arrived at the district jail on Sunday afternoon. Sources inside the jail maintain that the cops and the other man had come to “threaten” a gangster, Atul Kumar, and his men for assaulting a police informer, Dhiraj, lodged in the jail late on Saturday night. What occurred inside the jail on Sunday is reportedly connected to another incident that happened outside the jail premises on Saturday. A criminal Shailendra Vikram Singh had been released on bail. A police team posing as Special Task Force sleuths had tried to pick him up from outside the jail. It was only when Shailendra’s sister raised the alarm that the police team beat a hasty retreat. Atul and his men inside the jail discovered that Dhiraj, reportedly a police informer had passed on the information of the release of Shailendra. For this, Dhiraj was beaten up and is at present lodged at the jail hospital. When the policemen entered the jail on Sunday, Atul Singh, Narendra Pahari and 25 others who wanted to know the background of Saturday night’s incident outside the jail intercepted them. A heated exchange followed and the inmates outnumbering the cops beat them up. No jail staff came to their rescue. However, the SSP Lucknow, Ms Navneet Sakera, has another version of the whole incident. Speaking to TNS, he claimed the cops were on an official mission to find out about the threats being issued to a deputy jailor by some inmates inside the jail. Admitting that the cops had gone on an official secret mission to collect information about the “goings on inside the jail”, Mr Sakera, substantiating this theory, said this was the reason why the policemen were unarmed. However, he had no answer as to what a Vishal was doing inside the jail premises. Meanwhile, Minister for Jails Rakesh Kumar Verma conveniently left for his constituency in neighbouring Barabanki district. His junior minister, Mr Sitaram Nishaad, said he had returned to town “two hours ago” and was in no position to comment. |
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Sudarshan’s remarks figure at RSS meeting
New Delhi, April 26 The meeting, presided over by Mr Sudarshan, is believed to have discussed the fallout of his controversial interview to a television channel and felt that “despite the media hype” it has not affected either of the organisations or their relations, sangh sources maintained. The core group meeting at the Delhi headquarters is being attended among others by RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat, joint general secretaries Suresh Soni and Madan Das Devi, besides senior leaders M.G. Vaidya and Suresh Ketkar. |
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Address NGOs as societal transformers, says Kalam
New Delhi, April 26 Addressing the National Summit of Rural NGOs, Dr Kalam said employment generation was the foundation for sustainable development in villages. “Repeating what we are doing for several decades with more of the same, may not be the way to proceed further. We need innovation and transparent performance in our action”, he said. The President suggested that NGOs should be referred to as ‘Societal Transformers’, because the terms NGO has a negative connotation. He also asserted that there was a need to make NGOs and village authorities more accountable and transparent. Offering 12 suggestions, the President asked the government to double grants-in-aid to the Centre for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) to Rs 10,000 crore annually and maintain continuity in management structure of rural development bodies for at least five years, irrespective of regime change. |
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Co-accused’s reply sought in Taslimuddin case
New Delhi, April 26 Issuing notices to the other accused in the case, a Bench, headed by Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, directed them to make their stand known if the case was transferred outside the state. |
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Sudhir Vyas new envoy to Bhutan
New Delhi, April 26 |
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