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Kutch farmers blame ‘minority profiling’ for their plight
Bihar Govt was alerted: Shinde
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2 more bombs found in Patna
Jakhar wants issue debated in Punjab House
Modi cannot become PM, says Nitish
Chhattisgarh Assembly Poll BJP: Shall we call Rahul ‘badshah’ if not
‘shehzada’
ISRO gears up for Mars orbiter launch Gmail, Yahoo may be banned in govt offices by yr-end
Sanjay Dutt will return to Pune jail
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Kutch farmers blame ‘minority profiling’ for their plight
Mandvi (Gujarat), October 29 In village after village in the Kutch district, the sense of betrayal by those who claim to champion the cause of the Punjabis - in this case, the SAD - is palpable. Freeze notices were issued after lists were prepared by officials specially sent from Ahmedabad. These included all names with the surnames Singh, Kaur or any other community from outside the state. They were labelled ‘par-prantiya’ (outsiders). Take the case of Preethi Singh who singlehandedly chose to brave the odds and filed a case in the Gujarat High Court against the order freezing their lands in 2010. “Many members of the community, including my nephew pleaded with me not to do so. Despite repeated offers -- by turncoats among us -- of dining with the high and mighty here, I continued with my mission in the larger interests of the farming community,” he said. He suffered huge financial losses as he could not oversee his farm operations. “The only redeeming feature is that local residents supported us in our cause wholeheartedly, but then, there is not much that they can do,” he added. Various factors came into play once the high court ruled against the state. Chief Minister Narendra Modi went into damage control mode during a rally in Bhuj. He assured affected persons that they won’t be dislodged from their lands. A message was sent to leaders of the Punjabi community for a meeting, said Dharam Singh from Lakhpat. He was a member of a delegation that called on Modi. Talking to The Tribune in the gurdwara at Lakhpat from where Guru Nanak Dev embarked on his journey to Mecca, he said that the so-called leaders never raised the issue of Punjabi farmers and it was more of a chance to rub shoulders with the high-profile Chief Minister and his confidants. Many of them are transporters and hoteliers -- albeit with landholdings -- but their primary concern is to watch their interests, he said. Similarly, a delegation that came to Chandigarh to meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal did not raise the crucial ‘land freeze’ issue and instead, chose to go on a pilgrimage to Anandpur Sahib and Amritsar, he said. Others like LS Brar and SS Bhullar, who neglected their farms to espouse the cause of the community, said that the Sikh leadership has failed them. Ironically, Narendra Modi was publicly feted as a ‘sardar’ in Punjab when we were being declared ‘outsiders’ and are on our way out of Gujarat, they said.
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Patna blasts
Gurgaon, October 29 The Home Minister, who was slated to visit Patna today to review the security situation there, said he cancelled the visit as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had a meeting at Rajgir. "I have sent the Union Home Secretary, the Additional Secretary and the NIA chief to Patna to take stock of the situation. He (Nitish) will come to Delhi tomorrow and meet me," he said. Twelve contingents marched past amidst CRPF band tunes as part of the anniversary celebrations. The main attraction of the parade was a rifle drill by women commandos. The Rapid Action Force presented a fusion dance based on patriotic songs. Shinde presented the President's Police Medal for Gallantry to eight CRPF personnel (four posthumously) and President's Police Medal for Distinguished service to four officers. CRPF Director-General Dilip Trivedi said apart from acquiring new weapons and adopting new techniques, the communication system in the Left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected areas was also being improved. Later, he laid the foundation stones of 489 residential quarters and 580 men barracks at the NSG headquarters in Manesar. He, however, skipped a live demonstration of the counter-terrorist conditioning course (CTCC) as well as a media interaction, stating he had to attend an urgent meeting in Delhi. NSG Director-General Arvind Ranjan, however, maintained there was no lapse in the mobile security cover provided to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi by the NSG. 'Has time for
Rajjo, not for NSG'
As Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde hurriedly unveiled the plaques announcing the laying of foundation stones of residential quarters and barracks on the NSG campus at Manesar and rushed back, an NSG personnel was heard saying: "He had time to attend the launch of Rajjo, but not for the demonstration for which our personnel had been practising so hard." Shinde had reportedly gone to attend the music launch of Bollywood flick Rajjo featuring actress Kangana Ranaut just hours after the serial blasts in Patna.
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2 more bombs found in Patna
Patna, October 29 "One after another, two bombs were found on Tuesday," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said. The first bomb was found near SK Memorial Hall, around 50m from Gandhi Maidan. It was defused by the bomb-disposal squad. The second bomb was found in Gandhi Maidan. The police, till now, have found six live bombs from Gandhi
Maidan. — IANS
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On same dais, Manmohan, Modi claim Sardar Patel’s legacy
Ahmedabad, October 29 While Modi, in an apparent attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, said the “shape and the destiny” of the country would have been different if Patel would had been the first Prime Minister of India instead of Jawaharlal Nehru, Manmohan Singh retorted claiming that the Sardar always had “high regard” for Nehru and “both had mutual respect for each other’s views”. Making it abundantly clear that the “shape and destiny” of the country was decided by Nehru and Patel together as the first Prime Minister took all important decisions in consultation with Patel, Manmohan Singh sought to end Modi’s oft-repeated attacks -- expressing regret on Patel being denied the coveted post -- on the Nehru-Gandhi family. Manmohan also repeatedly reminded Modi that Patel belonged to the Congress and had “always worked for strengthening the Congress and cherished secularism.” Modi took the opportunity to “remind” Manmohan about the “awards” his UPA government at the Centre had given to the Gujarat Government under him for “good governance” in the past 10 years. He enumerated at length the 90-odd “awards” he had received from the Centre besides some 200 international awards for the same reason. Apparently, he was hitting at the Congress leaders who criticised his “claim of good governance and development.” Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi were sharing the dais at the inauguration of the renovated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial Museum set up by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Trust with financial assistance from the Centre at the Sardar Smarak, a historical building in Ahmedabad that once served as the official residence of the Governor of Gujarat. Speaking first, a smiling Modi, who was found engaged in animated discussions with Manmohan Singh on the dais, talked about Maoism and terrorism. He appealed to the youths, who had gone astray, to shun violence, return to the mainstream and join hands in the development of the nation. Though he spoke very briefly, Modi did not let go of the opportunity to hit out at the Congress and drew instant adverse reactions from the crowd mostly made of old Congress members. Immediately after his arrival here, Manmohan visited the Sabarmati Gandhi ashram to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation and later visited the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Congress. Singh also signed the visitors book in the Gandhi ashram stating that Gandhiji would always remain a great inspiration for him and the people in the country. PM refused time for Gujarat issues: Modi We sought time from the PM to discuss crucial issues of Gujarat, including Narmada Dam height, farmer issues and floods. Unfortunately, the PM refused to give time to discuss Gujarat's key issues but preferred to visit Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, the state Congress office. — Modi on Twitter
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Jakhar wants issue debated in Punjab House
Chandigarh, October 29 Jakhar said he had requested the Speaker to give time to discuss the issue that had been bothering hundreds of Punjab farmers settled in Gujarat, particularly in the Kutch area. "I will move a resolution describing how Punjabi farmers have been facing trouble in Gujarat. An appeal will be made to all members of the House to pass a resolution unanimously urging the Gujarat Government to withdraw the appeal
filed in the Supreme Court against the Gujarat High Court verdict favouring Punjabi farmers," he said. "What will be the strategy of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance on this issue is not clear yet. There is a BJP government led by Narendra Modi in Gujarat. When the issue came to light some months ago, the SAD had announced legal and other support to the affected farmers. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had taken up the issue with Modi. However, the SAD did not show much interest in the issue thereafter," he said. "It is time to stand by Punjabi farmers facing eviction from their landholdings in Gujarat. For decades, they worked hard to make that land fertile. When the time came to enjoy the fruit of that hard labour, the Gujarat authorities swung into action to force them out," said Jakhar.
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Modi cannot become PM, says Nitish
In his concluding speech at a two-day JD-U convention at Rajgir in Nalanda district, about 100 km from here, Nitish repeatedly made fun of his Gujarat counterpart but without taking Modi's name. Describing Modi as "the man who came here two days ago", Nitish Kumar said his dream of becoming the prime minister will remain a dream. "Modi is not talking democratic language. He is using fascist language when he asked his supporters thrice in a row to 'punish me' and 'eliminate me and my party' in the next General Election," Nitish Kumar said. He said in politics, winning and getting defeated in elections go together. But there were no bloody battles and calling for "elimination is fascist language". He compared Modi's prime ministerial "dream" with what he described as the "BJP hype" over Modi. Anyone aspiring to become the prime minister of a country like India should learn to be patient and sober, he said.
— IANS He’s like Hitler Nitish Kumar compared BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi with German dictator Adolf Hitler, and said someone aspiring to be the country's head of government must be 'calm'. Addressing the Janata Dal (United) convention in Rajgir on Tuesday, Nitish said the 'Hunkar' rally displayed the arrogance of the BJP. — ANI
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Chhattisgarh Assembly Poll New Delhi, October 29 With the declaration of 24 candidates today, the Congress high command has named 86 contestants for the Assembly of 90 and consensus still evades four seats. An analysis of the three lists released by the Congress reveals interesting departures from Rahul Gandhi’s vital suggestions. To begin with, he has said the party should not give tickets to those who won the last Assembly poll with wafer-thin margins and were the last 30 Congress MLAs in the Assembly of 90. The rule has clearly been found difficult to implement. Picture this: Arun Vora, the son of the all-powerful Congress treasurer Motilal Vora has bagged the Durg City seat which he has consecutively lost thrice. This is the fourth time he has been fielded from the same segment. Kawasi Lakhma, a tribal from Konta in Chhattisgarh, won the last Assembly poll by a margin of less than 100 votes but has been renominated from the seat. Likewise, Chhattisgarh royal TS Singh Deo, who won with few seats and was among the last 30 MLAs to be elected from the state, has again bagged the Congress ticket from Ambikapur segment in the state. In another major rule, Rahul Gandhi had barred distribution of tickets to those sitting MLAs from whose segments a Congress MP lost with a margin of more than 10,000 votes. In violation of this rule, the Congress has fielded in today’s list Pratima Chandrakar from Durg Royal from whose Assembly segment Congress Lok Sabha contestant from the segment Pradeep Choubey had lost by more than 13,000 votes. the reason why On why most of the suggestions made by Rahul Gandhi weren’t applied, a Congress leader from Chhattisgarh said, “We were not getting winning candidates if we followed those suggestions. In elections, there’s no rule bigger than winnability.”
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BJP: Shall we call Rahul ‘badshah’ if not ‘shehzada’ Mumbai, October 29 "Rahul Gandhi's statement (that Pak spies are trying to indoctrinate Muslims in Muzaffarnagar) was against the patriotic Muslims in the country. "If he (Rahul) shouldn't be called as 'shehzada', then should he be called a 'badshah'?" party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters here. Stung by Modi's barbs, the Congress had warned that calling Rahul as "shehzada" will not be tolerated, only to be slammed by Modi who retorted that he would stop doing so if Congress ends dynastic politics. — PTI
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JPC for in-depth review of Spectrum pricing New Delhi, October 29 Submitting its contentious report that does not name either the Prime Minister or the Finance Minister, it said former Telecom Minister A Raja "misled" the Prime Minister on 2G Spectrum allocation. Releasing the report today after handing over a copy to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, JPC Chairman PC Chacko asserted the committee wished the Rs 1.76 lakh crore presumptive loss figure cited by the Comptroller and Auditor General in its report could have been "more realistic". Among other things, it also recommended the need for undertaking a Spectrum audit and quantification of available Spectrum observing that neither the licensor nor the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has ever carried out any assessment regarding optimal utilisation of the assigned bandwidth. It said: "The guidelines for Spectrum audit should contain a provision of penalty for hoarding of excess Spectrum, and also for taking back excess Spectrum, if found." The 374-page report contained annexures and dissent notes by representatives of seven parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, whose MP A Raja held the Communication portfolio in the Manmohan Singh government at the time controversy over allocation and pricing of the Spectrum became public. Chacko said contents of the letter written by A Raja were analysed in the report and latter's request to depose before the JPC was not accepted by the committee, an issue that the dissenters, including the six BJP members on the panel, contended.
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ISRO gears up for Mars orbiter launch Chennai, October 29 A senior official playing a key role in the Mars orbiter launch - the first interplanetary mission by the Indian space agency - told The Tribune that they carried out rehearsal for the final countdown at Sriharikota today. The PSLV-C25 launcher carrying the orbiter is slated for lift-off on November 5 at 2.38 pm. The countdown for the launch will start 57 hours before, i.e. around 5.30 am on Sunday. The Launch Authorisation Board - comprising directors of various ISRO centres associated with the mission, including those who involved in developing the five payloads aboard the orbiter - will meet on November 1 to giving the final go-ahead to the mission. This meeting, to be presided over by SDSC director MYS Prasad, is crucial. The last launch of a spacecraft by ISRO from Sriharikota was unsuccessful. The launch of the GSLV rocket carrying a 1980 kg communication satellite was cancelled just an hour before the launch in August after a fuel leak was observed in one of the motors of the rocket. Keeping this in mind, the Launch Authorisation Board this time is determined to conduct a thorough scrutiny of the orbiter, the launcher and the five payloads before the blast-off is cleared by it. The orbiter has already been integrated with the rocket and is kept at the launch pad in readiness. The heat shield closure activity of the satellite was also recently completed. While the spacecraft will leave the earth aboard the PSLV rocket on November 5, the insertion of the spacecraft in the Martian orbit will take place in September next year. The Mars mission follows the successful moon mission by ISRO in 2008. the schedule
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Gmail, Yahoo may be banned in govt offices by yr-end New Delhi, October 29 The government is expected to route all its official communication through the official website NIC's email service. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) is drafting a policy on e-mail usage for government offices and departments and the policy is almost ready. The department is now taking views from other ministries on it. "E-mail policy of the government of India, as this policy will be called, is almost ready and we are taking views from other ministries on this. Our effort will be to operationalise it by mid or end-December," DEITY Secretary J Satyanarayana told reporters on the sidelines of a CII summit. According to official sources, the policy seeks to protect the large amount of critical government data. It also aims to make it mandatory for government offices to communicate only on the nic.in platform rather than commercial email services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc. — PTI
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Sanjay Dutt will return to Pune jail
Mumbai, October 29 The actor's time-out from jail was further extended on request. Under the law in force, Dutt will have to present himself in jail by 5 pm on Wednesday. So far no decision has been taken on extending the actor's furlough, home department sources say.
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JD(U) leader praises Modi at party
meet
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Patna, October 29
