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AP politicians incur EC wrath
SP general secretary quits
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Advani plans to sup with
NRI varsity on anvil
Encounter experts fear for their families
IIT-Guwahati to mentor
IIT-Patna
Insurgency brings rly project to a
halt
BJP pulls out of Jaipur
Maya sop for OBC students
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AP politicians incur EC wrath
Hyderabad, May 24 Five ministers, leader of the Opposition, an MLA and scores of senior officials were among those who got the rap from the poll panel. While the ministers K. Rosaiah, K. Jana Reddy, P. Lakshmaiah, G. Chinna Reddy, N. Raghuveera Reddy and ruling Congress legislator S. Sudhakar were pulled up for attending election meetings conducted in the government premises, the Opposition leader and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu was issued notice for holding a rally beyond the specified time limit and using loudspeakers. The bypolls are being held for four Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies following en masse resignation of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) members in protest against delay in formation of separate Telangana state. The Election Commission has been unsparing in targeting political leaders in case of poll code violations. The septuagenarian Congress leader and finance minister K. Rosaiah was slapped with a notice for his statement at a press conference on the proposed supply of red gram and cooking oil to poor households through fair price shops. The other ministers were hauled up for addressing campaign meetings on government school premises in various districts, which is prohibited as per the model code of conduct. The EC had also issued notice to agriculture minister Raghuveera Reddy for his “critical remarks” against the poll panel on the basis of media reports. It had also slapped notice on the state government for making certain policy announcements in violation of the model code of conduct. In an extraordinary move, chief secretary Ramakanth Reddy was summoned to Delhi to appear before the commission in person and explain about his circular to the authorities of the poll-bound districts asking them to route all communication to the EC through him. The chief secretary tendered an unconditional apology to the commission. Earlier, the commission also transferred Ranga Reddy district collector Praveen Prakash on the ground that he was guilty of violating the code in the past. It also ordered transfer of Nizamabad revenue divisional officer the DSP for allowing more people to accompany a candidate during filing of nomination for the Dichpally assembly constituency. The announcement of new sops by the Rajasekhar Reddy government, including enhancement of income limit for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, supply of pulses and oil through fair price shops and withdrawal of
theft cases against farmers, has come under the scrutiny of the poll panel.
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SP general secretary quits
Lucknow, May 24 Blaming the ‘caucus’ (Amar Singh and his glamorous friends) for the drift in party, Agarwal in his three-page resignation letter to the national party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, said: “Now the party seems to be more in need of film stars and corporate houses instead of social and political workers.” Expressing bitterness at the party’s growing proximity with the Congress-led UPA government, Agarwal said it appeared that the party was becoming a stooge of the same central government that was criticised everyday when the SP was in power in the state. “The central government’s neglect of the state and the growing price rise has also met with a stoic silence within the party “, charged Aggarwal fueling speculation of his being on his way to the BSP. Blaming the party for committing “foeticide’ of UNPA, the ‘third front’ which it was forging, Agarwal said partners of the stature of Jayalalithaa decided to part ways after becoming disillusioned by the caucus. He said the culture of healthy introspection within the party had been compromised. Agarwal in his letter reminded Yadav that when he tried such an exercise to analyse the causes of the party’s rout in the Vidhan Sabha election at party MP Janeshwar Mishra’s place, Amar Singh “did a drama of resigning” after which he was cajoled by all to reconsider his decision. In the morning Agarwal handed over his resignation from the Vidhan Sabha to UP Vidhan Sabha speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar. He was an MLA from Hardoi .The Speaker accepted the resignation of Agarwal, who was also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. Later in the day, Agarwal addressed a press conference at his palatial Mahanagar residence repeating the allegations made in his letter to the party president. Here he also mentions three issues that had been highlighted by chief minister Mayawati at a press conference earlier in the day further intensifying speculations that he was negotiating a place in the ruling BSP.
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‘My husband is innocent’
Tribune News Service
Noida, May 24 Speaking to the media, Nupur said her husband is innocent, “It is impossible that Rajesh killed Arushi. He was a doting father and just cannot do so. I will fight these charges against my husband.” She added that while the police is busy framing her husband for the murder, the killers are out in open. “Will any mother cover up for a husband who killed her daughter?” she replied, when asked whether she was covering up for her husband to save him from the law. Nupur said they were a closely-knit family and on the night of the murder had food and watched television together. “I was in the house. Is such a thing possible? Do you think...Can any mother sleep throughout? I think it is beyond anybody’s imagination. They (police) can say whatever they want. I know it is not true,” said Nupur. She urged the people to pray for her family. Expressing faith in God and law, Nupur denied that there were any illicit relations between her husband and Anita Durrani, a dental surgeon, which the police said was one of the reasons behind the twin murder. “Dr Durrani is a part of the family. I have known her since Arushi was born and whenever we had medical problems her husband Praful would come and give medicines. Anita’s daughter and Arushi were like sisters and studied in the same school,” revealed Nupur. Glaring loophole A glaring loophole has emerged in the police theory in the sensational twin murder case here as senior officials left unexplained the blood stains found on the staircase leading to the terrace of the house where the body of the servant Hemraj was discovered. If one goes by the version provided by UP ADGP Brij Lal and Meerut zone IG Gurdarshan Singh that Hemraj was murdered on the terrace and 14-year-old Arushi in her bedroom, the question as to how blood stains came on the staircase remained unanswered. It was actually the bloodstains on the staircase that had led former UP police DSP K.K. Gautam to the body of Hemraj lying on the terrace of the house. The police claimed that Arushi’s dentist father Rajesh Talwar, who has now been arrested for the twin murder, had misled them into believing that the domestic help Hemraj was responsible for the murder of his daughter. Bloodstains were not found on top of the steps, but on the edges, indicating that someone had tried to wash these away in an effort to destroy evidence. According to officials, Talwar asked Hemraj to go to the terrace after finding him in an objectionable position with his daughter in her room, saying he wanted to speak to him. Hemraj went to the terrace, to be joined after some time by Talwar, who hit him with a hammer-like heavy object and slit his throat with a knife. Again, it has to be explained how Hemraj, who the police said feared threat to his life from Talwar as his master was angry about his loose talk about his illicit relationship, went to the terrace after being caught with the teenaged girl.
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Anita Durrani refutes police charges
Noida, May 24 Everything is false and unsubstantiated. Nothing is true. All these things are baseless”, said Dr Anita. She added that the both families had very good relations and Talwar’s were in fact an extended family. Praful Durrani said they had faith in the system but what “police is saying is all fraud”. A visibly distraught couple said they had not been called by the police for interrogation or questioning and the police had just jumped to conclusion. Asked why would the police make such a charge and whether it would have done so without any evidence, she said she did not know and could not say why the police was doing so. Anita said she knew Rajesh Talwar for the past 13-14 years and they were good family friends.
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Advani plans to sup with JD (U)
New Delhi, May 24 JD-U sources said leader of opposition L.K. Advani has invited two top JD-U leaders, president Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for lunch at his residence on Sunday. The BJP and the JD-U had drifted apart in the run up to the Karnataka Assembly elections when the BJP had refused to part with any seats for the JD-U. In April, Sharad Yadav had described the ties between the two NDA partners as being ‘in tatters’. He had said, “They have betrayed the alliance and alliance politics. Our alliance is in tatters today.” He had alleged that the BJP had failed to fulfill its coalition ‘dharma’. Recalling the history of JD (U)-BJP alliance in Karnataka, he said, “In 1999, we contested on 90 seats, in 2004 it was just 25.” Privately, BJP leaders dismissed the JD-U as a party of little consequence in Karnataka. “Their first reaction was that the JD-U had been depleted. Then they said the JD-U had evaporated,” a senior JD-U leader recalled the comments of the BJP while speaking to The Tribune on Saturday. “They boasted then that they would easily win anywhere between 142 to 125 seats giving them a clear majority. Today they are saying they will get above 100 and are inching towards a majority,” he said. The JD-U leader said, “We have 73 candidates, 14 of them lingayats, and a good number of Brahmins and Jains, which is the BJP’s core vote bank. We may not win much but we have worked hard to spoil their prospects,” he said. The JD-U leader felt vindicated by this move and said, “Good, they now realise where they stand. Before the Karnataka elections they were so arrogant.” Meanwhile, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad dismissed the proposed lunch meeting as a “routine.” He said, “This kind of engagement is a routine. After all we are valued partners in Bihar and Advaniji is the leader of the NDA.”
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NRI varsity on anvil
New Delhi, May 24 Announcing the selection of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education as the private Trust assigned the task of rolling out the PIO University project over the coming year, minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi on Friday clarified, "The OBC quota will be applicable as it is in case of other aided institutions." The university will have deemed status under Section 3 of the UGC Act, and will provide 50 per cent seats for NRIs/PIOs and the rest for resident Indian students. Bangalore is likely to be the location for the university, which will, most probably, start its session from 2009-2010. The minister also announced the holding of the next Parvasi Bhartiya Diwas at Singapore between October 10 and 11 this year. On the front of PIO University, Ravi added, "The ministry wanted to have more than one university. We had thought of three, but were restrained by the court case in the matter. Now the decision is to have one university, whose course, fee structure and infrastructure capacity will be worked out by the chosen private Trust. They will be in consultation with us on the issue," Ravi said, referring to the need for such a university. It seeks to help the not-so-rich NRIs (there are 22 million NRIs worldwide), who want to educate their children in India. It has taken the ministry over two years to finalise the private body for setting up the university. Expressions of interest were invited from overseas Indian trusts and registered societies with experience in education sector. Finally, a 16-member Inter-ministerial Screening Committee, after considering 16 applications, selected Manipal Academy for the job. The idea of Pravasi University - as it is likely to be called - originated when the high-level committee on Indian Diaspora, appointed by the government in 2000, visited various countries with large concentration of Indian Diaspora and found that there was considerable demand for such an arrangement. The committee recommended the setting up of new universities and professional institutions offering courses of international standards in management, information, technology, media, agricultural research, medicine and food processing. The first announcement on PIO University came on December 13, 2005, from the Prime Minister, when he was attending the annual ASEAN-India summit at Kaula Lumpur. But even after a year of the announcement, no headway had been made. Consequently, on January 8, 2007, while attending the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi, Manmohan Singh again said the Government envisaged the proposed university.
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Encounter experts fear for their families
Dehra Dun, May 24 The killing of Puneet, nephew of Delhi Police Special Cell Inspector S.K. Giri, and Sunil, brother of Delhi Police Special Cell constable Anil Dhaka, allegedly by the gang run by notorious criminal Ajay Jadeja, has put a question mark over the security of the families of several encounter specialists of the Uttarakhand Police also. Around six police personnel, who are working in the Special Operation Group (SOG) of various districts of Uttarakhand and had several encounters to their credit, are a “worried” lot, as they fear for the lives of their family members. Notably, in the recent past, the Delhi Police Special Cell, in active coordination with the SOG,
Uttarakhand, had successfully gunned down several criminals. However, relatives of Giri and Dhaka had to pay the price as they were allegedly murdered by the Ajay Jadeja gang. The duo (Puneet and Sunil) along with an informer were found with their throats slit inside a car abandoned on the banks of the Hindon river in Baghpat (Meerut). According to sources, acting on information from the Delhi Police Special Cell on April 15, 2007, In charge of Hardwar SOG R.B. Chamola and another Hardwar policeman Swaryapal had gunned down Ajit Da and Rameshwar near Hardwar. Both of them were wanted by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police in different cases. Also both these criminals were members of the Jadeja Gang and it is perceived that the murder of the relatives of Giri and Anil is nothing but an act of revenge by the Jadeja gang. Here it is pertinent to mention that Jadeja fled from police custody two days ago from Gurgaon. Meanwhile, information gathered by The Tribune revealed that R.B.
Chamola, who is currently posted with the STF, has 52 encounters to his credit, while Swaryapal has gunned down 20 odd criminals. Besides, in charge of Dehra Dun, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar SOGs Nitin, Umesh and Vikas Chaudhary, respectively, had also been involved in several encounters. The police officials feel that in wake of the murder of relatives of policemen, their families are also not secure. Notably, Chamola was provided with a gunner when he was the SOG
in charge but ever since he got posted with the STF he had no police cover. The cops are also of the opinion that they can protect themselves as they have their official weapon, but there is no one to look after the security of their families, which could become target of gangsters.
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IIT-Guwahati to mentor
IIT-Patna
Guwahati, May 24 Presenting his report at the 10th convocation on the IIT campus here yesterday, director of the IIT-G professor Gautom Barua said the institute had been entrusted with the task of mentoring the newly established IIT, Patna, in its formative years. Prof Barua in his comprehensive report presented the progress and achievement of the institute in the last financial year. The institute received some high-value cutting edge research projects during the period. Some of them are: Rs 1.9-crore project on “Novel Nanoscale Materials: Generation, Characterisation and Device Applications” at the Centre for Nanotechnology; Rs 1.44-crore project on “Investigation on Magnetic Properties of Selected Novel Magnetic Materials”, in the Department of Physics; Rs 50-lakh project on establishing an information system on water resources of the Brahmaputra river system”, in the Department of Civil Engineering. The director said a total of 80 companies from various sectors participated in the recruitment of 442 students (B.Tech: 199, B.design: 19, M.Tech: 165, MSc: 59) registered with the placement cell of the institute during 2007-08. The overall placement of the B.Tech. branches and B.design was very good with 100 per cent placement in the civil, chemical and biotechnology. In the remaining other branches too, the percentage of placement was above 95 per cent. For B.Tech. and B.design , number of job offered were 254 for 218 students. The highest package offered to B.Tech students was Rs.30.12 lakh per annum while the average pay package on the offer was Rs.6.74 lakh per annum. Altogether 468 students were awarded various degrees at the 10th convocation that was graced by Governor of Assam Lt Gen (Retd) A K Singh as the chief guest. The Governor in his address stressed the need of a big expansion of technical education in north-eastern region. While drawing reference to the Knowledge Commission’s
recommendation for bridging the gap between science and engineering, he noted the IIT Guwahati’s leading role in integrating science and engineering at the B.Tech level. Dr. M. K. Bhan, secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the chairman, Board of Governors of IIT, Guwahati, while addressing the convocation said the integration of emerging technological innovations in seeking solutions to the pressing problems faced by the disadvantaged section of the society should always remain a priority for IIT, Guwahati.
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Insurgency brings rly project to a
halt
Guwahati, May 24 The project work is unlikely to resume soon as all 16 construction companies contracted by the Railways have decided not to re-start work unless the Assam government provided adequate security to their men engaged in the violence-hit district. The NFR Construction Contractors’ Association has told the Railway authority that contractors, who have suffered huge losses because of frequent disruption of works due to insurgency-violence in the region, are in no mood to resume work unless a conducive atmosphere was restored in the area and adequate security was provided. The project work came to an abrupt halt in the wake of killing of eight workers by the Black Widow or Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel
Garlosa) militants on May 10 last. The contractors’ association’s general secretary Shankar Das informed that all 16 construction companies at a meeting with the NFR general manger (construction) on Friday asked for ‘adequate security to their men and machine.’ There were about 5,000 labourers working in the project braving constant threat from ultras. The Railway has been requested not to insist on resumption of works till the state government provided proper security for workers in the project that was already running much behind schedule. The gauge conversion project that was started way back in 1997 and was expected to be completed by the year 2005. However, works in the project have remained disrupted at regular intervals because of insurgents’ attacks. The project period was later extended till 2010. “We have already accumulated losses to the tune of over Rs 60 crore because of disruptions in work and have asked the Railway to compensate for it,” the contractors’ association’s official said. He said all panic-stricken construction workers had fled work sites in the violence-hit hill district leaving behind all machinery and construction materials in an unguarded state and it would take not less than two months to organise the labour force to resume work even if adequate security cover was provided by the government today. The gauge conversion project included 86 major bridges, 337 minor bridges and 17 tunnels with a total length of 10,328 meters. Out of these only 18 major bridges, 292 minor bridges and 3,200 meters of tunnels have been completed till date. Meanwhile, all train services continue to remain suspended in the
Lumding-Silchar section as the NFR is waiting for the government to provide bullet-proof glasses to be installed around train engines for protection of drivers against attacks by insurgents.
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BJP pulls out of Jaipur
New Delhi, May 24 A meeting of the BJP national office-bearers chaired by party president Rajnath Singh and attended by Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh decided not only to shift the venue but also curtail the session from three to two days. The meeting was earlier scheduled from May 31, but would now be held on June 1 and 2 in Delhi, party leaders said. Asked for the reasons, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The reason is the current agitation and the law and order problem in the state.” He said, “We felt that if the national executive was to be held in Jaipur at this stage, it would divert the attention and resources of the state government and party workers. Whereas the immediate need there is to maintain law and order.” This is not the first time. Last year too the BJP had to shift its national executive meeting from Jaipur to Delhi because of the Gujjar agitation. The high profile meeting, along with a public rally, was planned months ahead of the state Assembly elections only to boost the morale of the party cadre and launch the BJP election campaign well in advance.
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Maya sop for OBC students
Lucknow, May 24 Mayawati hit out at the Mulayam Singh Yadav government for not protecting the interests of the OBCs, minorities and the poor among the upper castes. She said the SP government’s much-touted populist scheme of zero-fee higher education for OBC students was a “well planned conspiracy” as it had not made any financial allocation for its implementation causing great hardship to thousands of students.
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Kerala’s first international video fest begins Mumbai’s skywalk to be open to public HC quashes proceedings against Nafisa Ali Karnataka shunts out excise commissioner Manipur may issue arms to civilians
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