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ULFA, NDFB behind Assam blasts: Govt
Bomb defused in Assam
‘Mediate in Kashmir at cost of ties with India’
ISRO’s next plan |
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Nun Rape Case
Five JD-U MPs quit formally
PM to hold charge of I&B ministry
Lok Sabha Polls
Breakaway JD (S) unit returns to party fold
Polls
2008
Polls
2008
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ULFA, NDFB behind Assam blasts: Govt
Guwahati, November 11 The state government, in a statement, claimed that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police, investigating into the terror act, could identify the main culprits behind the serial blasts and efforts were on to nab them. In a first ever official statement about the blasts probe, the Assam government today said, “Main culprits, who have perpetrated the crime, have been identified and all efforts are on to apprehend them. Probable involvement of other agencies and organisations is also under investigation. The police have so far arrested eight persons in the serial blasts and related cases.” Meanwhile, the Assam police had laid siege to the truce-time designated camp of the NDFB at Borbori in Baksa district since Monday night. The police suspected that some of the persons involved might have taken shelter in the camp. NDFB cadres lodged in the camp have so far resisted the police’s bid to come inside even as the police and paramilitary force personnel have surrounded the camp from all sides to prevent anyone from moving out of the designated camp. There are 165 cadres of the NDFB in the camp right now. In fact, the police geared up vigil near all truce-time designated camps of NDFB in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTADC) areas in the state since last night, following a specific instruction from the state government.
Protest rally against blasts
Over 30,000 persons from different walks of life today hit streets of the city, taking out a protest rally under the aegis of All Assam Students’ Union
(AASU) against the October 30 serial blasts and demanding arrest of the ‘real culprits’.
On the other hand, the banned United Liberation Front of Asom
(ULFA) today accused the RSS of being the brain behind the serial blasts in Assam. Vehicular traffic on some parts of the city came to a grinding halt for about two hours as the long rally snaked past main thoroughfares in the city, displaying placards denouncing terrorism and growth of fundamentalism in the state. They also condemned the failure of the incumbent state government to protect lives and property of the common people. The AASU leader raised an alarm over growth of terrorist and fundamentalist forces in the state and warned the state government to be proactive in tackling the forces threatening the society. Meanwhile, in a statement e-mailed to the media here, banned outfit ULFA today reiterated that it was not behind the October 30 serial blasts and alleged that ‘colonial Indian rulers’ were leaving no stone unturned to make ULFA a villain. Chairman of ULFA Arabinda Rajkhowa said, “ULFA can never plot or carry out such barbaric attacks on indigenous people of the state. We have no links with any religious organisation and have been opposing terrorism in the name of religious fundamentalism.” In a startling allegation, the ULFA chairman accused the RSS of masterminding the serial blasts in Assam. “We understand that our effigies may be set aflame for revealing this bitter truth and some sections of the people may term us supporters of the Congress, but the truth cannot be denied,” he said.
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Bomb defused in Assam
Guwahati, November 11 Official sources informed that a team of BSF personnel detected the bomb planted on a bicycle at the weekly market in the Mazbat area in Udalguri district of Assam. The bomb weighed about 3 kg. On spotting the bomb-laden bicycle, the BSF troops cordoned off the area and called the bomb disposal squad. The bomb was timed to explode at 1600 hours. Officials said had the device exploded, it could have caused heavy casualties as the place was crowded with people coming to the weekly market.
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‘Mediate in Kashmir at cost of ties with India’
New Delhi, November 11 “... If you want to spoil the chances of good relations between India and the US, which has been nurtured by President Clinton during his second term and by George W. Bush during the past eight years then you should come in between India and Pakistan,” he told Karan Thapar on ‘War of Words’ programme telecast on CNBC-TV18. “I don't think outside powers should try to influence this process, which is going on, in my view, it is going on very well,” Mishra said, adding it could have progressed much more except for the internal situation in Pakistan for the past two years. In an interview to ‘Time’ magazine, Obama had said working with Pakistan and India to try to resolve the Kashmir “crisis in a serious way” would be the “critical tasks” for his administration.
— PTI
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ISRO’s next plan
Bangalore, November 11 The mini satellite Aditya is intended to study Corona, the outmost region of the sun. Though the launch date of the satellite is not fixed yet, it will be the logical successor of Chandrayaan-1, the unmanned mission to moon, which has now almost reached its final trajectory around the moon. “Aditya is a mini satellite for which the design is now complete. Through this we want to see the solar maxim. This will help us see the type of emissions that are taking place from the sun’s surface and how it interacts with ionosphere and atmosphere, ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair said. He said the sun mission ‘Aditya’ in visible and near IR bands from the earth’s orbit, would study the Coronal Mass Ejection
(CME) and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field among other things. “The Centre has approved Aditya mission and the design is now complete. The sun mission is very critical and only kind in the global space research,” Nair said.
— UNI
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Nun Rape Case
Bhubaneswar, November 11 The court of the Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) at Baliguda, which earlier in the day asked the nun to come down to Kandhamal for the test identification parade (TIP) of the accused on November 19, passed this order while disposing a petition of the crime branch(CB), the state’s premier investigating agency. The investigating officer (IO) of the CB, Dilip Kumar Mohanty, had prayed before SDJM Dolagobinda Barik to allow CB to take blood sample from the nun when she would attend the TIP. The CB in its petition stated that blood sample was essential for scientific confirmation of the allegation made by her. "The court asked the CB to go ahead with its investigation and draw blood from the nun, if required," additional public prosecutor Loknath Dora said. While the CB had already sent her clothes for scientific test at the state forensiclaboratory (SFL), sources said, it wanted to conduct a DNA test, which could be matched with that of the accused. "We want it to confirm the nun's charge," a senior CB official said, adding that it had already collected blood samples from all 10 accused. Their blood samples have been sent to Kolkata for DNA test, the official added. He said if the nun's DNA test was not done, then there was no meaning in getting the DNA test of the accused done.
— PTI
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Five JD-U MPs quit formally
New Delhi, November 11 The MPs’ team was led by Prabhunath Singh also included veteran leader George Fernandes, Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Kaliash Baitha and Meean Singh. The JD-U had eight MPs. But one of them was disqualified for voting for the UPA government in the July vote of confidence. The case against a second one is still pending before the speaker. The third got elected from UP and was drifting away from the JD-U to the BSP. Thus if the Lok Sabha meets again one last time from December 10, the JD-U may have no representation in the Lower House in this last session. Prabhunath Singh said later that the speaker “Initially requested us not to resign. Even jokingly he told us that the House may lose its colour in our absence,” Prabhunath said. Fernandes, who could not come due to his illness, spoke to the speaker on the phone and apprised him of his decision to resign from the House, Singh said. The move has been seen as part of one upmanship game against fellow Bihari political leaders of rival denomination namely RJD chief and railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP chief and steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu and Paswan have dubbed the move as a political stunt. Meanwhile, the BJP too dismissed the whole thing saying. “We are different parties and we can hold different views. “Please refer to what Rajiv Pratap Rudy had said,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said here today. Earlier, Rudy too had debunked this as a political stunt.
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PM to hold charge of I&B ministry
New Delhi, November 11 It said the President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has further directed that Dasmunsi shall continue to hold the rank of a minister in the cabinet, without portfolio. The medical condition of Dasmunsi, who has been on life support in a hospital here following a complete left ventricular failure, has shown no signs of improvement.
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Lok Sabha Polls
New Delhi, November11 Even as the party is still struggling to select the candidates for the ongoing assembly elections to the five states, suddenly it decided to declare 11 candidates for the UP parliamentary polls. These include, apart from Rajnath Singh, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi from Rampur, Kalyan Singh, Etah; Maneka Gandhi, Aonla; her son Feroze Varun Gandhi, Pilibhit; Murli Manohar Joshi, Varanasi; Adityanath, Gorakhpur; Santosh Gangwar, Bareilly; Ashok Pradhan, Bulandshahr, Bhanu Pratap Verma; Jalaon and Pankaj Chaudhry, Maharajgunj. The announcement comes soon after the party set up Kusum Rai, a close confidant of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh for the Rajya Sabha polls from UP, giving rise to speculations in the BJP circles about the political motive that necessitated such a decision. Kusum Rai had been given the party ticket for the Upper House of Parliament ignoring the claims of party stalwarts like Rajnath Singh and Naqvi, whose Rajya Sabha tenure is coming to an end shortly. That betrayed the growing clout of Rai’s patron in the party organisation, not withstanding the rather uneasy relationship between him and the party president. But now the Rajnath camp seems to have made counter move against Kalyan, which could see him sweating it out for the Lok Sabha polls. Etah constituency allotted to Kalyan Singh is the stronghold of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, dominated by the Yadav community, loyal to Mulayam Singh. But by this move the party has pitted Kalyan against Mulayam. Kalyan and Mulayam enjoy considerable camaraderie and both are committed to the rise of OBC power in UP. Besides, in the last elections when Kalyan was contesting from Bulandshahr, he was helped considerably by Mulayam. Of course the ostensible reason is that Bulandshahr is now a reserved constituency. The party has also changed the constituency of Murli Manohar Joshi. But Joshi, who had won three rounds of elections from Allahabad had not quite looked back at Allahabad since he lost the last general elections. And he had been lobbying hard to shift to Varanasi. By and large the BJP has tried to accommodate the aspirations of its leaders in the choice of their constituencies.
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Breakaway JD (S) unit returns to party fold
New Delhi, November 11 At the press conference Veerendra Kumar accompanied by Deve Gowda did most of the talking. He said, “A new situation has emerged where the issues on which we had left the party were no longer valid.” Kumar said, “After the JD-S distanced itself from the BJP in Karnataka, we have no ideological problems to return to JD-S.” Simultaneously, Gowda announced that he was restoring Kumar as the leader of the three-member JD-S Parliamentary party. Party MLA Verghese George had been appointed as a general secretary and all five party MLAs in Kerala had been restored to the JD-S national executive, party general secretary Kunwar Danish Ali announced at Gowda’s residence. Pleased with the return of the prodigal Gowda conceded that the Kerala unit was one of the strongest arms of the JD-S and their return would provide a great relief and strength to the parent party. “Together we will strengthen other state units across the country,'' he added. The reunification process between the two factions started during the UPA vote of confidence in July this year when Gowda decided to align with the Left. The Kerala faction already in alliance with the Left Front there immediately agreed to reunite with JD-S.Now the JD-S can also claim to be a ruling party in at least one state.
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Polls
2008 Political greenhorn dares lions in their dens in Ganderbal Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
Ganderbal, November 11 Appearing for the first time on the political landscape of Ganderbal, Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar of the Congress has vowed to wipe Ganderbal clean of red, the colour of the National Conference flag. “They have enjoyed our hospitality for far too long without caring to give anything in return. Time has come for them to go,” says the novice, already emerging as a potential challenger to NC chief Omar Abdullah, and PDP’s Qazi Afzal, who wrested the seat from Omar last time. The latter is obviously fighting to redeem family honour. But unlike Omar and Afzal, who have too much at stake, Ishfaq has nothing to lose. Son of a former NC minister Shiekh Abdul Jabbar who later joined the Awami National Conference, he is primarily riding on his father’s legacy. People in the area still remember Sheikh Abdul Jabbar as a man of integrity - one who sacrificed his life for the sake of democracy. Jabbar was killed by militants in his Lar village home, the place where close to 10,000 people gathered on June 21 this year to observe their leader’s death anniversary. It was after this gathering that Ishfaq decided to contest against Omar Abdullah and Qazi Afzal. When The Tribune met him in his village home today, he exuded confidence, saying, “I have a clean slate and a cleaner image. My father’s memory is enough to see me through.” The forty-something man just quit his job in the Jammu and Kashmir police service to be with people, and put up a serious fight against the NC and PDP. If the few recent instances in the area are anything to go by, people also seem to be responding well to the new man in. As Mohd Yasin, a student points out, “Sheikh Abdullah won this seat thrice; so did Farooq Abdullah. Last time when people ousted Omar Abdullah and voted for PDP’s Qazi Afzal, they vented out their frustration and warned the Abdullahs against taking Ganderbal for granted. This time, too, people are itching for change. Most of them want a local candidate, who is available when they need him.” Omar, for many, remains an “outsider”, while Qazi Afzal’s reputation has suffered a severe setback following the Amarnath shrine board row. In such a scenario, Shiekh Ishfaq, believes the Congress, will gain great mileage by projecting himself as the viable third option. Ganderbal and its 76, 898 voters also seem to be enjoying the fun. Whereas the area turned into a ghost town when Omar Abdullah and Qazi Afzal came to file their nominations from here, it was normal on the day Ishfaq formally jumped into the poll fray. He is also the only candidate so far to have held a few rallies in the place that’s responding rather well to the poll boycott call of the Hurriyat. Only yesterday, the security personnel had to resort to tear gas shelling after locals panicked following rumours of the separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooque’s arrest. The incident resulted in seven arrests today to check the anti-election campaign in Ganderbal. But that was of little significance to Ishfaq, who was busy attending a wedding in his neighbourhood. He was telling people of his plans to rid the district of unemployment (there are 50,000 unemployed people here), and of how his father wanted Ganderbal to become another Pahalgam.
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Polls
2008 Top BJP leaders woo voters Vibha Sharma writes from Jagdalpur The BJP on Tuesday set out to woo voters of Chhattisgarh with its top leaders holding public rallies in different parts of the state, thereby, making it clear that the party in Opposition in the Centre was taking the Assembly elections very seriously. Senior party leaders L.K. Advani, Venkaiah Naidu and Ravi Shankar Prasad, besides star-campaigners Navjot Sidhu and Smriti “Tulsi” Irani addressed rallies in different parts of the state. In comparison, for the Congress, it was largely leaders like Ajit Jogi who held the fort for the party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s Dhamtari and Mahasamund programme tomorrow has also been cancelled and son Rahul Gandhi will now address the rallies in her place. Poll campaign in the state witnessed an interesting incident when former Chief Minister Jogi’s chopper by mistake landed at one of Sidhu’s rally. Confirming this, Sidhu said though he was not present when this happened, he was informed by party members that such an incident did take place at the venue at Pakhnajur under the Antagarh Vidhan Sabha Constituency. Sidhu addressed a rally at Kurud today and is slated to address three rallies tomorrow. Meanwhile, in the tribal heartland of Bastar in Jagdalpur BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not having the authority to match his position, comparing the Congress to a team without a captain.
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‘Armistice Day’ observed 6 railway gangmen crushed 23 bar girls held Seven Naxalites killed
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Ganderbal, November 11
