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Has Power Minister Suresh Prabhu resigned?
New Delhi, Apr. 10 (ANI): Suresh Prabhu, Union Power Minister,
has left his job. The resignation letter submitted to his party
boss Bal Thackeray has been forwarded to the Prime Minister's
Office.
(But a late TV report says the Shiv Sena has denied that he has
resigned).
Prabhu reportedly quit his post 10 days ago following complaints
by the Sena, a key member of the NDA government, over his
performance, according to a TV channel on Wednesday. It is said
that Thackeray himself had requested him to resign for his
alleged failure to coordinate well with the party as power
minister at the Centre. (ANI). Three killed in Kalyan, curfew imposedGo to
top Thane (Maharashtra), Apr 10 (ANI): Two Hindus and a Muslim were
killed in a religious clash in Kalyan, in Thane district, 60 km
from Mumbai.
The clash follows the worst religious violence in a decade in
neighbouring Gujarat in which more than 825 people were killed,
most of them Muslims. There have been fears religious strife
could spread.
Police have imposed a curfew in Kalyan and deployed paramilitary
forces after the Tuesday night violence.
Locals said the incident was sparked by a personal fight between
a Hindu and a Muslim.
Mobs from both the communities later gathered and hurled stones
at each other.
A Hindu man was stabbed to death and his mother died of shock. A
Muslim woman also died.
Mehmood Sheikh, a local resident, said, the involvement of
outsiders worsened the situation.
"At least 10-20 people demolished the wall and came in. They
even attacked us from terraces by pelting stones," said Sheikh.
Dilip Walanj, another resident, said: "They banged this door and
barged into my house. They opened the cork of two gas cylinders
in the house and burnt it. Everything in my house has been
burnt."
Authorities in Mumbai claimed they have managed to keep the city
free of religious tension and strife following bloody religious
riots nine years ago.
Kripa Shankar Singh, the state's Home Minister, said several
houses were set on fire by the mobs on Tuesday night but the
situation had been brought under control.
"These clashes started as a result of a mutual rift. But then
some miscreants joined in due to which, this incident occurred.
Now, the situation has been brought under control. We have
imposed curfew in the area though people were allowed to send
their children to school," said Singh.
More than 800 people were killed in communal riots that rocked
Mumbai after Hindu activists tore down a 16th century mosque in
Ayodhya in December 1992.
Hindu activists are campaigning to build a temple to Lord Ram on
the site of the Babri mosque which they believe is where the
mythological Ram was born.(ANI) School children fight their way though transport chaosGo to
top New Delhi, Apr 10 (ANI): Children in the national capital
struggled to reach their schools on Wednesday as more than 6,000
diesel-operated buses, half the number that normally ply the
streets of this city, continued to stay off the roads for failing
to switch over to a cleaner fuel as per the Supreme Court order.
The Delhi government had ordered the closure of all schools,
except Central Schools, in the city on Monday and Tuesday to
divert school buses to public transport.
Children waited for hours at crowded bus stops in the morning as
only a few state-run vehicles were in service.
"Even on Saturday, we had waited at this stop for an hour.
Today, we have been waiting since 7 O'clock in the morning..it is
past eight now and still there is no trace of bus," said Anand, a
student. He added that "I am definitely going to be late for
school. Worst of all, my principal will scold, and even punish,
me".
There are a total of 4,500 schools in Delhi for which the state
government has diverted 900 compressed natural gas (CNG) operated
buses to ferry the students. But they proved to be inadequate,
forcing many children to either hire cycle rickshaws or walk
long distances to reach their institutions.
Parents felt that schools should not have been reopened when the
problem was still unresolved.
"They are just trying to harass the public. Once in a while, it's
OK to drop children to school and then pick them up. But as daily
routine, it becomes quite difficult" said Ramesh Mathur, a
parent.
In schools, attendence was not unusually low but most teachers
and pupils reached quite late.
Said Geeta Arora, principal of Happy Public School: "Not many
students were absent today and I guess the reason is that most
of them had made some kind of an arrangement or the other. But if
this sort of thing continues for long, the situation would become
very difficult, especially for those whose parents are
working."(ANI) Thousands roughed up at Musharraf rally
Go to
top Lahore, Apr 10 (ANI): The police roughed up thousands of people
who attended the Musharraf rally here on Tuesday. They baton
charged all those who had tried to get out of the meeting to go
home much before the General started his speech.
Thosee who had arrived at the venue early in the morning got
restless as Musharraf's speech got delayed for many hours. After
4 pm, before the rally organisers closed the exit gates,
thousands of people, including government employees, teachers and
clerical staff, women, children and elderly people managed to
leave the venue.
Those who remained trapped inside thronged the gates but were
baton charged by the police on guard at the gates from inside.
Then, many of them tried to jump over the iron fences but to
their horror they were again baton charged by the policemen
standing outside. The policemen led by many senior officers and
armed forces personnel beat up those trying to climb down from
the fences. Newsmen covering the rally rescued several crying
children and wailing women who were desperate to go home.
This situation continued for over an hour. In the meantime, a
sizeable crowd built up inside the gates and began raising
slogans against the police. Sensing trouble, the organisers
opened one gate facing Shahi Masjid from where a large number of
people rushed out, visibly shaken, with torn and stained clothes
and bruises.
The women and children were particularly in a wretched state.
Talking to journalists, some of them said they were not allowed
to enter the main enclosure and had difficulty in listening to
the speeches at the back of the Park because all the loud-
speakers were confined to the main enclosure.
The women teachers in the rally were afraid to talk to
journalists fearing punitive action from the authorities.
However, the few who talked said they were worried for their
children left behind alone since morning. The school
administrations were seen taking a roll call of the teachers at
the venue in order to ensure all staff was present there.
A number of poor people, including aged men and women, who came
to give applications to the President seeking redressal of their
grievances, were roughed up by policemen and were literally
pushed away or baton charged.
The most tragic scene was that when a middle-aged woman tried to
get access to the stage in a bid to meet Musharraf, policemen
picked her up by both legs and arms and threw her away from the
stage.(ANI) Israel must obey global sentiment and get out of West Bank: UK Go to
top London, Apr 10 (ANI): Britain has sternly reminded the Israeli
government that it must abide by international law and halt its
incursion into West Bank.
Tel Aviv's response to the global community's demand for early
withdrawal of its forces from the Palestinian areas has not been
good enough, Jack Straw, Foreign Minister, has said in a
statement even as he recognised the Israel's right to self-
defence.
As a counter-balance, Straw had also earlier urged the
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to make "every effort" to
ensure immediate cease-fire, a day after the killing of 13
Israeli soldiers by Palestinian militants in an ambush.
Israel sent its troops to storm and capture towns and refugee
camps in West Bank on March 29 (two days after 27 Israelis were
killed by a suicide bomber) for pressurising Palestinians to stop
suicide attacks. In the process, the headquarters of Yasser
Arafat was badly damaged and he remains holed up in a room there.
Till now about 200 Palestinians have been killed. Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, so far adamant about his mission, finally pulled
out soldiers from two cities in West Bank in deference to the
USA's wishes.
However, Israeli armours and soldiers are making their presence
felt in many other cities.(ANI) Powell, Annan call on Israel to stop it Go to
top London, Apr 10 (ANI): US Secretary of State Colin Powell, United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Spanish Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar, representing the European Union, and Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov have made a collective appeal to Israel to
pull back its forces from Palestinian-dominated areas in the West
Bank.
They also urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to do everything
in his power to put a stop to suicide attacks on Israeli
civilians.
The calls were made on Wednesday in a joint statement issued
after a meeting between Powell, Annan, Aznar and Ivanov in
Spanish capital Madrid.
"We call on Israel to halt immedediately its military operations.
We call for an immediate meaningful ceasefire and immediate
Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah,
specifically including Chairman Arafat's headquarters," said the
statement read by Annan at a news conference.
"We call on Chairman Arafat as the recognised elected leader of
the Palestinian people to undertake immediately the maximum
possible effort to stop terror attacks against innocent
Israelis," it added. (ANI) |