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Restore party’s glory, Vajpayee tells workers
No secret pact with SP: Atal
Gen Kapoor is new Army Vice-Chief
Honorary degree for PM
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2 years on, memorial to Rao still hangs fire
17 states adopt new pension scheme
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Restore party’s glory, Vajpayee tells workers
Lucknow, December 24 In his address to the party's three day's concluding session today, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reminded the party leaders that "road to Delhi goes via Lucknow" meaning that the BJP had to win the UP Assembly polls to be a serious contender for the throne at the Centre. Both Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and newly installed party president Rajnath Singh asked the delegates not to restrict their vision to mere Assembly elections in five states but to focus on the major battle ahead in 2009. Every statement, activity, action and resolutions were aimed at the forthcoming Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls with Mr Advani telling the assembled party workers that “our opponents have given us enough ammunition to overthrow the UPA government” and expressed confidence that they (Congress and its allies) "will continue to repeat their mistakes" making the BJP's task easier provided "we are well prepared to avail this opportunity". He said the party can come back to power at the Centre by adopting a twin-pronged approach of depending on "our opponents mistakes" like lack of "internal cohesion" among the Congress and its allies and by projecting the positive achievements of the BJP and the NDA-ruled states by which many of the erstwhile “bimaru” states like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh ,Rajasthan and even Bihar is on the road to progress and development. Striking an aggressive posture, Mr Advani chose to shoot adrenalin into party workers veins by declaring that no agreement or understanding on Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula or the Indian government's alleged "non-paper" without taking the nation into confidence and Parliament's approval would be permitted by the BJP. Reminding the sacrifice of the BJP's erstwhile Avtar Bharaitya Jansangh's president Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Mr Advani threatened to launch a nation-wide agitation to prevent any agreement on Jammu and Kashmir. On the coming elections, BJP president Rajnath Singh announced a calendar of party's agitation programme called 'Janjagran Yatra' from January 16 to April 16 on the issues of price rise, farmer's suicide, unemployment, internal security arising out or terrorism and appeasement of Muslims. The president said that the party would collect one crore signatures in support of Afzal Guru's hanging and exhibition of which would be held in every district and would finally submitted to the President A P J Kalam. He further said that if the government did not heed to our demands then the party would launch a 'Jail Bharo Andolan' from April to May next year virtually coinciding with the proposed Assembly elections in UP. Mr Vajpayee, who was addressing the convention being held in his parliamentary constituency, while thanking Chief Minister Mulayam Singh for the hospitality extended during the party convention also held the state government responsible for the brutal elimination of political opponents, including that of the BJP workers. The former Prime Minister, who regaled the audience with raising local issues like that of cleaning of the Gomti, asked the party workers to shun "factionalism and infighting" in the party for restoring the party to its past glory. The BJP adopted an economic resolution titled as "Aam Admi ke saath viswasghat" (betrayal of common man), aiming at the Congress's slogan of "Congress ka haath, Aam Admit ke saath) in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The resolution, prepared keeping an eye on the elections, accused the UPA of favouring a special class and said that Manmohan Singh government was "anti-employees, anti-middle class and anti-senior citizens". The UPA's National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme also came for heavy criticism both in concept and implementation. The resolution also presented a set of 7 demands to the UPA which include convening of a Chief Minister's conference to deliberate on the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers and prepare a roadmap for time bound implementation of the agreed agenda.
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No secret pact with SP: Atal
Lucknow, December 24 Virtually launching the party’s election campaign at a well-attended ‘parivartan rally’ at the Ambedkar Maidan here, Mr Vajpayee quoted extensively from state government crime figures to substantiate his point of a rapidly deteriorating law and order situation. According to him, during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s three-year tenure, there have been 19,029 cases of murder, 3,930 rapes, 5,800 incidents of kidnapping and a whopping 71,000 dacoities and lootings. Despite this, the Congress stops short of paving the way for President’s rule in which a free and fair election can take place. Visibly moved at the turnout at the rally held on the eve of his birthday, the former Prime Minister spoke at the very end of a host of speakers who attacked the so-called Muslim appeasement of the UPA government. However, the seasoned politician in Vajpayee struck a discordant note by going beyond those present in the rally by directly asking Muslims if they “were happy in the present regime which did not guarantee them security and dignity”. Mr Vajpayee, along with Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh, projected national vice- president Kalyan Singh as the future Chief Minister who went full blast against the Mulayam government and UPA’s Muslim appeasement policy. Mr Kalyan Singh did not mince words by saying that the BJP would not hesitate to match bullet for bullet if the SP attempted any booth capturing during the elections. Mr Kalyan Singh said within a month of assuming power, he would put the mafia behind the bars. Making a slew of elections promises, Mr Kalyan Singh read out the party’s election manifesto of sorts by committing concessions like payment of support price of Rs 200 per quintal to the sugarcane farmers. In a clear move to polarise the state’s electorate, Mr Rajnath Singh attacked the Muslim appeasement of the Congress government by accusing it of pursuing the separatist agenda of the pre-Independence Muslim League. Mr Advani urged the gathering to vote for the BJP if they wanted to emerge from the category of Bimaru states just like the BJP and NDA-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and now even Bihar, which he claimed were making rapid progress. While officially the building of Ram mandir has been postponed to an indefinite future, speaker after speaker, including Mr Advani catered to party’s core constituency by declaring the construction of a “bhavya mandir”.
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Gen Kapoor is new Army Vice-Chief
New Delhi, December 24 Lt-Gen Deepak Kapoor, presently the GOC-in-C, of the Udhampur based Northern Command has been appointed as Vice Chief of the Army Staff at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi. He replaces Lt Gen S Pathabhiraman who will retire next Sunday. Lt-Gen HS Panag, presently the GOC of a Strike Corps is to be the new GOC-in-C of the Northern Command who will take over from Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor. Lt-Gen KS Jamwal, presently GOC-in-C, Army’s Training Command based at Shimla, is to be the next GOC-in-C of Army’s Eastern Command based at Kolkata. He replaces Lt-Gen Arvind Sharma, who retires next Sunday. Lt-Gen ML Naidu, at present Commandant, Army War College will take over as GOC-in-C of the Army’s Training Command from Lt Gen KS Jamwal.
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Honorary degree for PM
Kolkata, December 24 ISI was founded in 1931 by P C Mahanalobis, recognised as the father of Indian statistics.
— PTI
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2 years on, memorial to Rao still hangs fire
Hyderabad, December 24 Two years have passed since the former PM was cremated here after his party allegedly denied him a resting place in Delhi. But the memorial that was to come up on the banks of the Hussain Sagar in the heart of the city is still mired in political and legal tangle. Named ‘PV Gnana Bhoomi’, the memorial is to come up in an extent of two-and-a-half acres abutting the lake in the Buddha Purnima Project area. While the estimated cost of the project is Rs 2 crore, only Rs 80 lakh have been spent till date. An entry plaza, a sculpture complex, an exhibition hall, a promenade and a water body near the Samadhi area are to come up in the memorial. However, only the peripheral grills for the compound and sculpture complex have been completed in the past two years. According to project director Chandramohan Reddy, overseeing the memorial work, the six sculptures in the sculpture complex convey different qualities of PV’s personality. The abstract sculptures represent the former Prime Minister as a ‘mouni’, an intellectual being, father of economic reforms in the country, a good strategist, a diplomat par excellence and a linguist. An Ahmedabad-based architect Surya Kakani designed the memorial complex. “Like the man himself, the memorial is designed to be simple and uncluttered,” Reddy said. The official said that the project was expected to be completed by the end of the next year. That is, if the Supreme Court gives the green signal for raising the permanent structures on the site, which is the bed of 1250-acre lake. The apex court had stayed any construction activity in the area. The project director, however, said that the government would approach the court for exemption in January, and hopes to get the court’s nod.
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17 states adopt new pension scheme
New Delhi, December 24 The government is understood to have accepted certain proposals of its outside supporters to amend the pension Bill, including having public sector fund managers and the option of 100 per cent investment in government securities. The Left parties’ insistence that the employees on retirement should get 50 per cent of the average of previous three years’ monthly pay as pension, has not been accepted by the government. The Left parties have also been demanding that the government should fill the shortfall if the pensioner fails to get this return from investment of the pension funds. A meeting of Chief Ministers has also been convened by the Centre to discuss available option for investing funds from the NPS. Left leaders were told by the Prime Minister that the Chief Ministers of 17 states were seeking central intervention to settle the problem of parking the huge pension funds. The Left leaders, particularly CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan, were understood to have suggested that a national infrastructure fund be created to park these funds.
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700-year-old idols found Rogue elephant crushes three Mild quake hits Rajasthan Five kids die in mud collapse |
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