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Govt has transferred initiatives to Pak: BJP
Left Front wins Kolkata civic poll
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Israeli girl found dead
CM defies Basu
No POTA case against Godhra accused: panel
BJP ‘satyagraha’ begins on tense note
Manmohan reviews foodstock situation
Fernandes flays RSS for praising Indira
Natwar meets Italian Dy PM
Rights group seeks ministry on disability
Ministerial reshuffle
in the offing
Maharashtra officer grilled in visa scam
Naqvi, Tandon held in UP
Gaur embroiled in Digvijay’s Dalit agenda
Delhi, Dhaka lay stress on bilateral cooperation
US official to visit India, Bangladesh
Brain stroke third biggest killer in India
Petitions of Lalu, Rabri dismissed
Temple car fest passes off peacefully
Protest against killing of Manipur minister’s kin BJP playing politics on peace process: Cong Names of actress, ex-cricketer crop up in funding of Salem
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Govt has transferred initiatives to Pak: BJP
New Delhi, June 21 Addressing a press conference here, Mr Jaswant Singh asked the government to state what it had done if Pakistan had violated the understanding on the running of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus by allowing Kashmiri separatist leaders to travel beyond the PoK. Mr Jaswant Singh alleged that it appeared that the UPA government had “transferred initiatives, which till now laid with India, to Pakistan and its President Pervez Musharraf.” He also accused the government of diluting commitments on the issue of cross-border terrorism given by Pakistan and asked what India had achieved strategically or tactically in the various steps taken in relation with Pakistan since it came to power. Referring to the observation made by the Prime Minister that Pakistan had violated understanding with India on the plying of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus by allowing Kashmiri separatist leaders to go beyond Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Mr Jaswant Singh asked the government to “state if it knows that Pakistan has violated the understanding or what it intends to do now about it”. He charged the government with conducting itself vis-a-vis the Hurriyat as if the separatist conglomerate “holds a kind of veto both on the peace process between India and Pakistan and relations of the government and various other organisations of Jammu and Kashmir.” Referring to the Prime Minister’s suggestion that the Siachen glacier be made a “peace mountain”, he asked what the government meant by it. “If Siachen was to be a peace pinnacle, why troops were sent there by former Congress government (in 1984) and what additional or extraordinary circumstances have taken place now” for the Prime Minister to make such suggestions, the BJP leader said. On the Prime Minister’s contention that there will be no redrawing of borders, the BJP leader wondered and asked “what does he mean by open borders? You cannot have simultaneously an open border as well as an unalterable border.”
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Left Front wins Kolkata civic poll
Kolkata, June 21 At Salt Lake also, the CPI(M) retained its supremacy by winning 18 of the 23 seats. But at Uttarpara Kortrang municipality in Hooghly, the Trinamool-BJP alliance won a landslide victory by winning most of the seats in the 24-ward municipal board. In the Kolkata municipal poll, the CPI(M)-led Left Front won 75 seats — four seats more than the magic figure of 71 for the formation of board, while the TMC-led NDA, which had been in power since 2000, bagged 45 seats and the Congress(I)-newly formed Subrata Mukherjees’s Unnayan Manch 19. Incidentally, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja, former Union Minister in five terms during the Congress(l) and the NDA regimes, who contested the election on the TMC ticket, won by a margin of 860 votes. The outgoing Mayor, Mr Subrata Mukherjee, won but he had missed the opportunity of retaining the chair, which would now go to Mr Bikash Bhattacharyya, the CPI(M) mayoral candidate. He won by a margin of 1,600 votes from ward no 100. Immediately after the election results of Kolkata and Salt Lake municipalities were declared, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu thanked the people for restoring confidence on the Left parties. |
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Israeli girl found dead
New Delhi, June 21 The girl, believed to be in her early 20s, is suspected to have gone to the farmhouse in the Vasant Kunj area along with her Indian boyfriend, police sources said. The body was discovered around 3.30 p.m., they said. The cause of the death was not immediately known, they said.
— PTI |
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CM defies Basu
Kolkata, June 21 Mr Basu wanted an inquiry into the lathicharge by the police on the party MP, Mr Amitava Nadi, and Mr Jaykrishna Ghosh, Mr Basu’s long-time political secretary, and several others during the elections at ward No 12 at Salt Lake, which he felt was unwarranted and could have been avoided. Mr Biswas came out in support of the police action. The Chief Minister, however, did not make any statement in support of the police action. But he felt no necessity in instituting any independent inquiry into the police action as advised by Mr Basu. Mr Bhattacharjee was handed over a copy of the inquiry report made by the District Magistrate, which justified the police action. It was stated in the report that both Mr Nandi and Mr Ghosh had unnecessarily interfered in the activities of the police and election officials, who were objecting to rigging by the CPM. Mr Subhas Chakarborty, state Transport Minister, and the MP, Mr Nandi, criticised Mr Biswas and the Chief Minister in supporting the police action during the poll. Mr Basu, however, did not make any criticism as such but expressed his helplessness that he had been ignored by the young guards.
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Sonal blames Left for ouster
New Delhi, June 21 Claiming to set the record straight on the “events of the past few weeks” and demanding an inquiry into “corrupt practices entrenched in the Akademi”, she said seeds for her removal had in fact been sown last year, as indicated by an article written by senior CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet in the party paper. “Sonal Mansingh, who campaigned for the BJP in the last parlimentary poll, continues in her position in the Lalit Kala Akademi,” the article, “De-saffronise our institutions”, written by the veteran leader in People’s Democracy, a weekly of the CPM, stated. Terming her ouster as an instance of “unprecedented political interference” in the country’s premier cultural body, Ms Mansingh told media persons at a press conference that the Indian comrades wanted to create a “cultural Gulag” in the country. She said Culture Minister S. Jaipal Reddy had asked her if she really campaigned for the BJP, adding “I told him I did not and I had the moral courage to accept it if I had campaigned for the party.” Asked about her leanings to the BJP, she said if knowing and speaking Sanskrit and being rooted to the culture of one’s existence was being saffron, then she would not know what is saffron. “Are we going to chop off the saffron colour of our flag,” Ms Mansingh questioned. “I don’t want to reveal too much. Just wait and watch,” she said when asked whether she would sue Mr Surjeet like Mr Anupam Kher had when he was removed as Chairperson of the National School of Drama. She said her refusal to participate in corruption in the institution was the reason for the tirade against her in the Akademi, while making a straight attack on three senior officials of the institution. Hitting out at the officials, whom she held responsible for unsavory goings on in the institution, she demanded an immediate special revised audit and inquiry into an awards ceremony held in Guwahati in 2001, in which Rs 80 lakh were spent, and the Festival of Russia in India in 2002 that had a budget of Rs 1 crore, before she became the chairperson in 2003. “My constant refusal to be party to corrupt practices entrenched in the Akademi perpetrated by certain individuals and my refusal to overlook such criminal abuses of the system has resulted in this tirade against me. My personal commitment to democratic values is well known and needs no certificate from anyone, she said. |
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No POTA case against Godhra accused: panel
New Delhi, June 21 The Justice S.P. Jain POTA Review Committee, constituted by the Centre by a notification on November 4, 2004, has said that after hearing both sides and the “evidence made available to us, this committee is of the considered view that this incident had taken place on the date, time and place as alleged by the prosecution but certainly not as part of conspiracy envisaged under the provisions of POTA.” “This committee, therefore, is of the view that the accused persons may be tried under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Railways Act, the Prevention of Damages of Public Property Act, the Bombay Police Act but not under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002,” “The Special Public Prosecutor has accordingly placed the opinion of the POTA Review Committee before the POTA Special Court. The matter is now before the Special Court for further appropriate action,” a press note issued by the Union Home Ministry said here today. The opinion of the review committee together with other relevant records was placed for passing appropriate order as per the directions given by the Gujarat High Court on special civil application (SCA) Nos 1103/2005 and 1105/2005. These two SCAs were filed by certain affected persons in the Gujarat High Court challenging the constitutional validity of sub-sections 3 and 5 of Section 2 of the POTA Repeal Act, 2004. In its interim order dated January 29, 2005, the Gujarat High Court stayed the implementation of these provisions which was got vacated through an SLP filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Supreme Court. The Ministry of Home Affairs then filed counter-affidavits in the SCAs in the Gujarat High Court and the cases were argued in the high court by the Additional Solicitor-General. Finally, the Gujarat High Court, in its order dated April 13, 2005, dismissed the two SCAs and directed that the review committee forward its opinion to the public prosecutor for being placed before the Special Court, who shall then file appropriate application to place the opinion of the review committee together with other relevant records for passing appropriate order. Following these directions of the Gujarat High Court, the POTA Review Committee sent a copy of its opinion in the Godhra railway police station case to the Principal Home Secretary, Government of Gujarat, on May 17, 2005 with a request that a copy of the opinion be also forwarded to the public prosecutor in compliance with the directions given by the high court in the aforesaid SCAs. The Gujarat Government has been adamant against dropping POTA cases against the accused in the Godhra train carnage case despite recommendations of the POTA Review Committee. Of the accused , 103 have been arrested while 29 are still absconding and two have died. |
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BJP ‘satyagraha’ begins on tense note
Lucknow, June 21 The BJP is demanding the reinstallation of the bust of Deen Dayal Upadhyay at its original spot in Rampur from where it was unceremoniously removed on the night of June 13 reportedly for widening of a road. While 106 persons were arrested from Rampur today, another 600 arrests were made from neighbouring Moradabad and Jyotiba Phule Nagar, said Rampur SP B.D. Paulson. Charging the state administration with denying his party the basic right to a peaceful protest, national vice-president and former Rampur MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the refusal to grant permission to hold a public meeting reflected the state government’s authoritarian bent of mind. |
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Manmohan reviews foodstock situation
New Delhi, June 21 The meeting, which was attended by Agriculture and Finance Ministers Sharad Pawar and P. Chidambaram respectively, also reviewed the impact of hike in petrol and diesel prices on foodgrains. The Prime Minister held detailed discussions on the foodgrain situation and the measures needed to ensure its adequate availability for the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Food for Work Programme. The Food Ministry officials maintain that the availability of wheat for the PDS and welfare schemes, including food-for-work is sufficient to tackle any situation. The government has projected that on April 1, 2006 wheat stocks were likely to slip down to around 1.5-2.5 MT when the next procurement season begins as against 4.5 MT a year ago. Mr Pawar has already stated that if the need arouse the country could import foodgrains to meet its domestic requirements. The government is upset over the low purchase of wheat by official agencies, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which brought down the overall procurement by 24.2 per cent to 14.8 MT on June 1. The procurement is down by around 3 MT as against the government’s target of 18 MT. About the kharif prospects, agriculture ministry officials said the delay in monsoon now would not affect the crop, as July-August rains are crucial for sowing paddy and wheat. The officials said the meeting of the National Development Council will be held on June 27-28 to review the progress of Food for Work Programme and Sampoorna Gramin Rozghar Yojna. The officials said the government was planning to review the raw sugar import policy as the situation in the country had vastly improved.
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Fernandes flays RSS for praising Indira
New Delhi, June 21 In a letter to the RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan, he has questioned the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s admiration for a dictator and has said that hailing her Prime Ministership amounts to endorsement of dictatorship. Fernandes wrote in the letter, “I was shocked to read your statement that the RSS admired Indira Gandhi though you The letter reads, “I cannot understand how the RSS can admire a person who went to the extent of saying that her emergency rule meant that even the right to life had been withdrawn by her as Hitler had done in Germany.” He has alleged that Indira Gandhi injected corruption into our polity. “She chose to be a dictator only to remain in power when Lok Shakti (people’s power) was against her rule,” the letter reads. |
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Natwar meets Italian Dy PM
New Delhi, June 21 On the UN reforms, Mr Natwar Singh apprised Mr Fini of India’s stand particularly about the expansion of the Security Council explaining the dynamics of the current movement, including his forthcoming participation in the emergent meeting of the G-4 in Brussels tomorrow, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. The two sides agreed that economic and technological ties between India and Italy must be enhanced with the requisite political backing. Italy evinced interest in looking at opportunities in the sphere of infrastructure and food processing. A high level delegation is expected to visit India in September. On its part, India desired greater interaction in the information technology sector. Mr Natwar Singh and Mr Fini referred to the landmark visit of the Italian President to India in February at the time when 600 Italian businessmen including a large number of CEOs were also in this country. The two leaders underlined the need for early implementation of various agreements signed during the visit of the Italian President encompassing foreign office consultations, preservation of the Ajanta caves and the Framework Agreement on Science and Technology. The two ministers desired that the proposed setting up of a business forum between the two countries should be speeded up.
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Rights group seeks ministry on disability
New Delhi, June 21 DRG convener Javed Abidi alleged today that little had been done since the passage of the Disability Act in December, 1995, to empower the disabled and create a barrier-free access for them in public places, public transport, monuments and places of entertainment. Mr Abidi said the focus on disability had to be at the political level. “We have given considerable thought to our demand for the creation of a separate ministry on disability. If you can have a separate ministry for tribals and non-resident Indians, which we presume are focus areas, you can have a ministry on disability. If the creation of a separate ministry is not possible immediately, the Ministry of Human Resource Development should be entrusted the job.” Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar is a “prisoner of vote-bank politics.” As a result, her priority is issues concerning SCs followed by issues concerning minorities and then those pertaining to the disabled, she said. “When Meira Kumar demanded reservation for the SCs in the private sector, she forgot all about the disabled. This once again proves that disability figures nowhere on the agenda of the minister. In fact, during Maneka Gandhi’s tenure, issues concerning animals got more importance than issues related to disability,” Mr Abidi alleged. Ranoo Banerjee, former General Secretary of Parivaar, a national federation of parents associations for welfare of mentally handicapped, cerebral palsy, autism and multiple disabilities, said they had submitted a memorandum to Dr Manmohan Singh in July, 2004, for the creation of a separate ministry on disability. Mr Abidi said two apex institutions — the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the Nation Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Disabilities — had been headless for almost a year.
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Ministerial reshuffle
in the offing
New Delhi, June 21 Amidst speculation, Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met Congress President Sonia Gandhi last evening. He later met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for nearly an hour, informed sources said. Though these meetings have been termed as routine, discussions were believed to have touched the impending reshuffle. Mr Azad holds the dual charge of Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and Urban Development. The sources said the ministerial reshuffle could trigger changes in the All-India Congress
Committee where the induction of fresh blood like Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot was also being talked about. The ministerial reshuffle could involve a change of portfolios of some ministers holding crucial departments. Either Mr A.K. Antony or Vayalar Ravi from Kerala and JMM supremo Shibu Soren are likely to be inducted into the 13-month old UPA Government. The names of new faces including G.K. Vasan, Anand Sharma, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Chandra Sekar Sahu and M. Ramadass from Pondicherry are also doing rounds for inclusion.
— PTI |
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Maharashtra officer grilled in visa scam
Mumbai, June 21 The racket was exposed by the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department. According to state government sources, the racket happened during Mr Sanap’s tenure as DSP in charge of the Foreigners Registration Cell last year. The police unearthed the racket when an Iranian national was found overstaying his visa. It subsequently turned out that top state government officials and immigration officials had extended the visas of more than 350 persons without following proper procedures. So far 12 persons, including officials in Maharashtra’s government secretariat, Mantralaya, and travel agents, have been arrested. Mr Sanap said in Pune that he was called in for questioning. “I gave them whatever information I had,” he added. He was grilled for over six hours. Mr Sanap is said to have signed on recommendations of foreigners who had applied for extending visas on the basis of forged documents, the sources said. The foreigners allegedly paid between Rs 2,000 and Rs 45,000 for obtaining visa extensions.
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Rampur, June 21 While Naqvi was arrested this morning in the town, where the statue has been removed, Tandon was detained about 30 km away when he was proceeding to participate in the satyagrah, police sources here told PTI. BJP media in-charge Narendra Singh Rana claimed that several hundred party workers from different districts were also arrested by the police while on their way to Rampur to take part in the satyagraha. The party had announced earlier that its cadres from different districts would offer satyagraha at Rampur on a daily basis from today to press their demand. Security had been tightened in the town and police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawans had been deployed in strength to maintain law and order in the wake of the BJP agitation. The district administration had removed the statue of Upadhyay from a crossing and relocated it at another place on June 13 citing road widening as the reason. — PTI
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Gaur embroiled in Digvijay’s Dalit agenda
Bhopal, June 21 The Digvijay Singh government had launched the scheme on April 1, 2003, as part of its Dalit agenda, to help members of the SC/ST communities to become successful entrepreneurs by subsidising the margin money amount without ceiling. The BJP government of Mr Babulal Gaur apparently finds the scheme a bit too unpalatable in its present form. Mr Dheerendra Singh Dheeru, a former MLA, decided to set up an automobile workshop and manufacturing unit at Satna which is the hub of transport activity in view of the limestone and cement industries in the area. The project, estimated to cost around Rs 9 crore, was approved by a district-level committee under the Rani Durgavati Margin Money Self-Employment Scheme and forwarded to the state government on June 14 last year for release of the margin money of around Rs 3 crore. Banks agreed to give the required loan as soon as the margin money was released. Mr Dheeru has since been commuting between Satna and Bhopal and meeting every one concerned. He told this correspondent that he had already spent around Rs 16 lakh on completing the formalities such as consultancy, preparation of the project report and running a small office at Satna. On April 27, Mr Gaur wrote to Mr Dheeru that his government had made a provision for a total of Rs 2.25 crore under the Rani Durgavati SC/ST Self-Employment Scheme for the current financial year and it was not possible to provide the margin money of Rs 3 crore to Mr Dheeru. The Chief Minister hinted at amending the notification and fixing the maximum amount of margin money at Rs 7,500. He conveyed to Mr Dheeru that his case would be considered after the amendment. Mr Dheeru then moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The Vacation Judge, Mr Justice A.K. Shrivastava, passed the following cryptic order on May 19: “The only contention which has been put forth by the learned counsel is that despite there being an order passed by the committee under the policy framed by the state government, the case has not been decided by respondent No. 1 (the state of Madhya Pradesh). Looking at the facts and circumstances, respondent No. 1 is hereby directed to decide the case of the petitioner in accordance with law, preferably within three months from today”.
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Delhi, Dhaka lay stress on bilateral cooperation
New Delhi, June 21 India raised the issue of presence of terrorist training camps in Bangla territory, while Bangladesh voiced concern over ‘frequent incursions’ by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel into Bangla territory. Dhaka repeated for the nth time that no terrorist or insurgent outfits were operating from Bangladeshi soil and Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin drew the attention of his Indian counterpart, Mr Shyam Saran, to action taken by Bangladeshi security forces against a couple of insurgent outfits in the past few weeks. South Block sources said Mr Saran appreciated the action taken by Bangladesh but said this was not enough. He reiterated Indian concerns about the presence of terrorist camps in Bangladesh, a charge which Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s government has been denying since 2001. The Indian side dismissed concerns expressed by Bangladesh on ‘incursions’ by BSF into Bangla territory. Dhaka’s case has been that several innocent people have been killed by BSF personnel during these incursions. Despite the hard talk by the two sides on issues related to security, terrorism and border management, the Foreign Secretary-level talks made some progress on identifying areas for intensifying their bilateral cooperation. The two sides discussed broad contours of a proposed agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation and also explored possibility of starting more bus services between the two countries. India has, quite some time back, handed to Bangladesh a draft on the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement as Dhaka has been very keen on such an agreement. The two sides also discussed starting a direct bus service between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka without the passengers having to get down at Dhaka. India and Bangladesh already have two bus services between them: Kolkata-Dhaka and Agartala-Dhaka. The talks were held throughout the day today and informal talks continued even at the dinner which the Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary hosted for the Indian side in the Bangladesh High Commission. Mr Hemayetuddin also called on Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed after which the two sides had delegation- level talks. The talks will continue tomorrow after which a Joint Press Statement will be issued. The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh is accompanied by officials from ministries of Commerce and Home Affairs besides Foreign Affairs. On the Indian side, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is being assisted by senior officials in several Ministries and representatives of the State Governments bordering Bangladesh. Earlier the two meetings of Foreign Secretaries were held in Dhaka- in April 2003 and in March 2004.
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US official to visit India, Bangladesh
New Delhi, June 21 Mr Burns is expected to meet senior officials and political leaders now that the US has expressed its preparedness to help lead the UN reform effort. The US is open to discussing the UN Security Council reforms and expansion, including the creation of a UN peace building commission, as suggested by UN-Secretary General Kofi Annan for post-conflict situations. While underlining that the UN should be a strong, effective and accountable organisation, the Bush administration has called for highest standards of integrity and efficiency within the world body. It supports the creation of a smaller action-oriented human rights council to replace the Commission on Human Rights which should not include states with a record of abuse. Simultaneously, America strongly supports the adoption of a comprehensive convention on terrorism along with playing a positive role in development. The US, in outlining its approach on the UN reforms, has said the expanded UNSC should be such that it “looks like the World of 2005”. On June 22 Mr Burns will be in London. The next day he will accompany US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the G-8 foreign ministers meeting. Thereafter, he will travel to India and Bangladesh before returning to Washington on June 27. |
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Brain stroke third biggest killer in India
New Delhi, June 21 A WHO study, which comes ahead of the World Brain Stroke Day Friday, has quoted the incidence of the disease in India to be around 130 per 1,00,000 population every year and says about 20 per cent of heart patients are susceptible to it. The disease has also turned out to be the most common cause of disability and dependence, with more than 70 per cent of stroke survivors remaining vocationally impaired and more than 30 per cent requiring assistance with activities for daily living. A brain stroke occurs when a blood vessel carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or bursts, causing the brain to starve. If deprived of oxygen for even a short period of time, the brain cells begin to die. Once this happens the part of the body controlled by that section of the brain is affected, impairing language, motor skills or vision or causing paralysis. — IANS |
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Petitions of Lalu, Rabri dismissed Patna, June 21 The petitions of the duo were unanimously dismissed by a full Bench of the High Court comprising Justice R.N. Prasad, Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice
M.L. Visa. Justice Prasad delivered a one-line order that the Bench unanimously decided to dismiss the petitions of Lalu and Rabri in the DA case. No ground was stated in
the order. The Bench had on May 18 reserved its judgement after hearing arguments of petitioner’s counsel P.P. Rao, the counsel for CBI, Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasharan and P.K.
Shahi, the counsel for the JD (U) MP and intervenor petitioner Rajiv Ranjan Singh
“Lallan”. Lalu and Rabri had challenged the sanction given by the then Bihar Governor
V.C. Pande to prosecute them in the DA case. — PTI |
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Temple car fest passes off peacefully
Chennai, June 21 However, the district administration was accused of “tokenism” as only a handful of Dalits were allowed to participate in the otherwise upper caste Hindu dominated festival. Earlier, Dalits were not even allowed to touch the ropes or the temple car since it was considered a sacrilege by the upper caste Hindus. The state CPM secretary, Mr N. Varadarajan, moved the Madras High Court on the issue and the court directed the district administration to ensure full participation of Dalits in the age-old festival. As such, only a group of handpicked Dalits was allowed by the district administration and the police to pull the ropes today. Though the festival passed off peacefully, the police arrested prominent politicians like former Tamil Nadu Congress President Kumar Ananthan, a Dalit leader, Dr K. Krishnasamy, and many CPM activists. The Sivaganga District Collector, Mr Anandrao Vishnu Patil, said the temple car procession passed off peacefully. “Thanks to the deity Swarnamoortheeswara, there was no untoward incident,” he said, but refused to divulge how many Dalits participated, saying, “We can’t differentiate. A lot of them participated”. However, CPM Sivaganga district secretary M. Arjunan alleged that “Many Dalits were prevented from entering Kandadevi village. It is a violation of the court order.” He and CPM MLA N. Nanmaran and a few other party activists had managed to evade arrest, but many others were arrested at various places. Mr Nanmaran alleged that “It is clearly a violation of the court order, as the administration only allowed token participation of Dalits.” The Kandadevi temple car is pulled by four huge ropes, each of which can be held by 150 persons. Earlier, Dalits participated in the festival by pushing the temple car while upper castes pulled from the front. But with metalled smooth roads there was no need to push the car and it ended their participation. The event could not be held for four years from 1998, but was held twice in 2002 and 2004 following orders from the high court.
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Protest against killing of Manipur minister’s kin
Imphal, June 21 The sources said personnel of 19th Assam Rifles killed Keshorjit Singh alias Rocket Tomba, after taking him away from his residence in the Nongada area in Imphal East district. A locally made carbine and some ammunition were seized from the spot, the sources said. Local residents, who had blocked the road between Imphal and Ukhrul district at Nongada Lamlai, said Keshorjit Singh was picked up at around 5 pm yesterday without serving an arrest warrant. They said they heard several gunshots in the Sailent area, near Nongada, at around 1 am today and later Keshorjit’s body was found. They claimed the weapon and ammunition was placed near his body after he was killed.
— PTI |
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BJP playing politics on peace process: Cong New Delhi, June 21 “The intention is not to advise the government in the national interest on a sensitive issue but to play politics,” Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said. He said Mr Vajpayee had chosen to play politics on the sensitive issue of Indo-Pak process by releasing to the media his letter to Dr Manmohan Singh. He said the Prime Minister had taken a “judicious” view of not releasing his reply to Mr Vajpayee to the media so as to keep sensitive security and foreign policy related matters out of party politics. Refuting BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s charges, Mr Sharma said there was no ambiguity in the government’s position on Jammu and Kashmir. He said the Prime Minister had reiterated on every possible occasion that there can be no redrawing of boundaries. He said that if the Hurriyat leaders violated the agreement between India and Pakistan by travelling beyond the PoK, Islamabad was to be blamed for the breach. Accusing the BJP of giving undue importance to Hurriyat leaders, Mr Sharma said it was one of the organisations in Kashmir.
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Names of actress, ex-cricketer crop up in funding of Salem New Delhi, June 21 Security agency sources said the bank transactions of Salem were monitored closely. The agencies traced some of the financial transactions to the former Indian cricketer and the actress. The sources refused to give out the name of the crickter and the actress but claimed there were enough proof to prosecute them. Salem has been facing extradition trial to India and is currently serving four-and-a-half-year imprisonment in Lisbon for entering Portugal on forged documents.
— PTI |
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