 |
|
New Delhi, April 30 In a determined bid to counter any confusion in the minds of his Muslim supporters, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav made it clear today that he would do everything to block a BJP-led government from retaining power at the Centre.
Vajpayee woos Muslims
No panic in BJP, says Jaitley
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Major power failure averted
Justice Babu to be sworn in as CJI tomorrow
Basu for secular govt at Centre
Street kids produce audio programme!
Rly ban on smoking from today
Admit poor kids, public schools told
HC orders probe into disappearance of blast accused
5-year jail term for two terrorists
‘Include children’s rights in manifestoes’
24 killed in road mishap
|
|
Mulayam determined to stop BJP
New Delhi, April 30 Mr Yadav’s fresh salvo in the wake of machinations to split the Muslim vote in the country’s most populous state also clarified that he was also not in the race for the Prime Minister’s post. Acutely aware that the Samajwadi Party could play a key role in a post-election scenario in the event of a hung Parliament, Mr Yadav talked of a Third Front being in place. In a spate of interviews to various TV networks, the SP supremo sought to rubbish the talk that he was building bridges with the BJP. Even as he affirmed that his party remained unwavering in the pursuit of justice to the minorities, Dalits and other oppressed sections, the BJP was enlisting the services of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Uttar Pradesh on May 2 and 3 before the fourth phase of polling on May 5. In a rearguard action and change of track after the first phase of polling in UP on April 26, the SP, BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress were desperate to get their act together to garner as many seats as possible. This would facilitate them, especially the SP, in arraigning to itself the role of kingmaker. UP contributes the maximum number of 80 seats to the Lok Sabha followed by Maharashtra with 48 seats. Just as there was widespread belief that Mr Yadav might perform a flip-flop from his avowed opposition to the BJP in a post-election scenario, there was a similar perception about Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar. After all it was Mr Pawar and company who bid adieu to the Congress on the foreign origin issue of its President Sonia Gandhi. Though BJP spokesperson maintained that there was nothing unusual about Mr Modi campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, his presence in the country’s most populous state was being viewed as a strategy to consolidate the Hindu votes with an element of doubt and also suspicion having been sowed in the minds of the minorities.  |
|
Aligarh, April 30 “Hamare dil aur dal dono khule hain Muslims ke liye (both our heart and party are open to Muslims),’’ Mr Vajpayee said while addressing a public meeting in support of the BJP candidate and three time MP Shiela Gautam here last evening. Refuting allegations that the BJP was anti-Muslim, the Prime Minister said he was sure of establishing cordial and lasting relations with them. He tried to remind the Muslims, who constitute a substantial portion of the electorate in western Uttar Pradesh, that his government had restored normal relations with Pakistan. Though asserting that the party’s relations with Muslims were separate from the equation the country had with the neighbouring nation, Mr Vajpayee said it was during his tenure that both the countries started playing cricket and even Pakistan was forced to assure that it would work to curb terrorism. “We are now playing cricket with Pakistan which the people could not have earlier imagined. We have established peace with the neighbour and when I went to Islamabad recently, I asked them to work for curbing terrorism, a scourge for all and they agreed to it,” he said. He assured Muslims that his party would take full care of their hopes and aspirations and appealed to them to give him an opportunity to fulfill his promise. Mr Vajpayee recently announced in Bihar that two crore jobs for Urdu teachers would be created if the NDA was voted back to power.
— UNI |
|
No panic in BJP, says Jaitley
New Delhi, April 30 On the concern over the adverse impact of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, which has a sizeable Muslim vote bank which the party is trying to woo, he said Mr Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati had campaigned in other states in the first and second rounds of polling and would work for the party in other states in the third and fourth phases too. The party, he said, would make best efforts to win in Uttar Pradesh because it was the state with the highest numer of 80 Lok Sabha seats. This was one state where the BJP could make strides because it had only 25 seats in the dissolved House, Mr Jaitley said. He said the exit polls had set at least six prime ministerial aspirants to daydream about occupying the top-most post in the country. The Third Front, too, was enjoying the ‘phoney feel-good’ feeling and the personal animosity against one another had also come into open. NCP leader Sharad Pawar had opposed Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He said the people would vote for stability, progress and development and would judge those who had delivered results for the country in terms of economic growth, peace and good governance. Meanwhile, former Miss India World Shruti Sharma who has joined the BJP saying she was “inspired” by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s leadership. Shruti, who won the title in 2002 and has signed four films since then, joined the BJP in presence of party state unit President Harsh Vardhan and its candidate for the Delhi Sadar Lok Sabha constituency, Mr Vijay Goel. |
|
New Delhi, April 30 The northern power grid nearly collapsed following the crash in demand, but the situation was saved by timely closure of generating units, the Power Grid Corporation said today. “The quantum of load crash was more than 10,000 MW in a grid size of around 21,000-22,000 MW,” the corporation said in a statement. The Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) of the corporation swung into action and ensured immediate closure of generating stations, both thermal and hydro, and export of power to the neighbouring Eastern and Western regions. In order to control the high voltages and maintain grid integrity, measures were also taken to press the reactors into service and switch off the lightly loaded redundant lines. Since morning, the load in the system had started developing and the backing down of generation was gradually being lifted. The switched off transmission lines have been brought back into service and at the moment, the Northern Grid is being run in a normal manner, it said.
— UNI |
|
Justice Babu to be sworn in as CJI tomorrow
New Delhi, April 30 The President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, will administer the oath of office to Justice Babu at a ceremony in the Darbar Hall at Rashtrapati Bhavan, an official release said here today. He will be 34th CJI of independent India. Justice Babu succeeds Justice V.N. Khare, who retires on May 2. The new CJI will hold the office only for 31 days as he is due to retire on June 1. Enrolled as an advocate in 1965, he was appointed as a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court in 1988. Justice Babu has delivered several landmark judgements including the recent one on disinvestment of government equity in HPCL and BPCL since his elevation to the Supreme Court in September 1997. The judgement halted the process of disinvestment and the government was asked to obtain prior approval of Parliament for disinvestment in the two oil PSUs as these were created by Parliamentary enactments. He was a member of the apex court Bench which ruled that practice of Tandava Nritya (dance) in public with skull and tridents was not an essential part of Anand Marg faith. — PTI |
|
Basu for secular govt at Centre
Kolkata, April 30 “The seats of the Congress will increase, but by itself it cannot get a majority. The BJP will also not get a majority. There has to be a coalition government and the Congress, which is the biggest Opposition party, is talking about a coalition now, unlike in the past,” he said in an interview. The nonagenarian Marxist leader said there had to be a coalition government, but with whom? “I cannot say now. We shall see who will go with whom and who can form the government.” Admitting that the situation was complicated, he said in Bihar Laloo Prasad Yadav’s RJD was with the Congress, but Mulayam Singh was not. ‘’We were advising Mulayam Singh to make up with the Congress.’’ He said differences among various Opposition parties had to be ironed out to facilitate formation of an alternative government. “There is a dispute between Laloo Prasad and Mulayam, our party leaders in Delhi are in touch with them. It will be a great failure on our part if they don’t accept pur proposition to form a non-communal
government.’’
— PTI
|
|
Street kids produce audio programme!
New Delhi, April 30 “Butterflies Broadcasting Children” is a unique venture in which a group of street children are brought together by an NGO, Butterflies, to produce and record an audio programme under the expert guidance of professionals. Raju and his likes can now voice their problems, fears and traumas through such programmes. Asan, 14, a member of the Butterflies Children’s Council, an NGO working for street children, says: “I want to tell people that we should have the right to play and enjoy our lives. But we
sometimes get beaten by the police and face lots of other problems.” “Once when I was picking rags, a policeman in plain clothes picked me up and beat me up. He broke my hand. This story needs to be heard. People should know about us and how we live,” says Pappu, who is a journalist by day and ragpicker by night. The children hold regular editorial meetings to decide on the agenda, stories and the interviews in all seriousness of professional journalists. Nearly 20 children, who are effective communicators, articulate and have some knowledge about children rights were trained on the basics of broadcasting like information gathering, teamwork, communication accuracy, time-management and the use of recording equipment by experts from a UK-based media ethics body, Pressvise, and the British Council, says Mr Sunil Kumar, media coordinator of Butterflies. These children produce a 30-minute programme in Hindi which features interviews, news, music, short stories and
sometimes, a play. The kids don’t have access to the airways so rather than broadcasting their programmes, they “narracast” them, that is, they narrate their stories. They record shows and then play the cassette in crowded market areas, bus stations and other public areas using a system that is attached to bicycles, says Ms Rita Panickar, director of Butterflies. Though India liberalised television and radio broadcasting restrictions nearly a decade ago, it has recently begun to practically ease these restrictions on radio by giving licences to universities and schools, giving these children hope to own their own radio station in near future, she says. “For the time being, these children are happy to produce programmes for and of the street children with the limited facility that they have,” she adds. New Delhi has about four lakh street children, one of the largest concentration of working children in the world, who are escaping domestic violence and
wind up in extreme poverty, says Sunil. — PTI |
|
New Delhi, April 30 The
violators would have to shell out a fine of Rs 200, an official press note said today. The Railways Ministry has issued orders banning smoking in trains and railway premises under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003. The Zonal Railways, production units and public sector undertakings under the Railways Ministry have been directed to ban smoking strictly, the release said. The punishment for smoking on the railway premises is a fine of Rs 200 which is compoundable and subject to summary trial in accordance with the procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
—PTI |
|
Admit poor kids, public schools told
New Delhi, April 30 Director of Education Rajendra Kumar said the public schools had been directed to grant free education to poor children. The present parental income limit is Rs 48,000 for boys and Rs 60,000 for the girls which would entail the students to seek the benefits. All schools have been directed to grant
free education to minimum 20 per cent students from poor families from May 1. Under no circumstances, the exemption granted to a student would be withdrawn without the approval of the Education Director. The schools have also been directed to file the budget estimates of receipts and payments of ensuing year by July 31, each year. The final accounts mentioning the receipts and payment account, income and expenditure and balance sheet of the preceding year duly audited by a Chartered Accountant should also be submitted to the government, the order said. All other information including schedule of fees, funds, staff statement should also be presented to the department every year.
—UNI |
|
HC orders probe into disappearance of blast accused
Mumbai, April 30 They were allegedly involved in the disappearance of an accused in last year’s Mumbai bomb blasts case. The policemen had corroborated the statement of Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze who claimed that the accused, Sayyed Khwaja Yunus, had escaped from police custody. Waze, who was in charge of Yunus, was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and released on bail this week. The court also asked the Maharashtra CID to probe a complaint by fellow accused, Dr Abdul Mateen. Dr Mateen had alleged that Yunus was severely beaten up in police custody. The accused could have died as a result, Dr Mateen had claimed. Waze, in his statement, said, he along with a team of junior policemen was escorting Sayyed Khwaja Yunus, a computer engineer accused of carrying out blasts at Ghatkopar in suburban Mumbai in December 2002, to Aurangabad. During the journey their vehicle met with an accident. Waze and his associates claimed that the policemen became unconscious and when they came to their senses Yunus was missing. However, parents of the blast accused Yunus had approached the court and alleged that their son
was killed in police custody. They claimed that the police had cooked up the story to save their skin. The Ghatkopar blast, which
occurred near a railway station on December 2, 2002, had claimed the lives of two persons. |
|
5-year jail term for two terrorists
New Delhi, April 30 Additional Sessions Judge R.K. Jain ordered deportation of Saifullah, alias Saif Bhai, 31, who hails from Gujranwala in Pakistan after completion of the sentence. The court also slapped Rs 3000 fine on him. A fine of Rs 1000 was slapped on 37-year-old Munir Ahmed alias Manzoor, who hails from Habba Kadal area of Srinagar. The duo was nabbed at New Delhi railway station on June 19, 2000 by the Delhi Police after a tip-off that Chief Commander of Al Badr outfit would arrive there with the explosives. The police had recovered two packets containing 4 kg of RDX from them and they were booked for sedition under Section 121 of IPC, conspiracy under Section 120 of IPC and Explosives Substances Act. A case under the Foreigners Act was also slapped on Saifullah. Altogether 11 witnesses were examined in the case and the two were convicted under Explosives Substances Act. The court, however, did not find substantial evidence to convict them for sedition.
— PTI |
|
‘Include children’s rights in manifestoes’
Mumbai, April 30 The CRY manifesto also urges for revision of the National Policy for Children, 1974, to make it more comprehensive and in line with the Indian Constitution and the United Nations Convention of Child Rights and to establish the National Commission for Children with statutory powers.
— UNI |
|
24 killed in road mishap Dehra Dun, April 30 The mishap occurred when the bus was going to Rishikesh from Srinagar town of Pauri district, killing 22 persons on the spot and injuring seven, most of them hailing from the Garhwal region, he said. He said two of the injured succumbed in the nearby hospital where they were admitted. The rescue work has started and nearly 12 bodies have been recovered so far.
— PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
