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Six more VHP activists held for Orissa Assembly attack Kendrapara, May 18 (ANI): Six more activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad were arrested late on Friday in connection with the attack on Orissa Assembly on March 16. With this, the total number of persons arrested in this connection went up to 80. Official sources said the accused were produced before the sub- divisional judicial magistrate, who rejected their bail plea. Immediately after the storming of the Assembly, 67 VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, including seven women and the VHP state president Bipin Behary Ratho, had been taken into custody. They were subsequently released on bail. On Wednesday last, seven persons were arrested from Jajpur district. Meanwhile, the house committee of the Orissa Assembly, which is probing the incident, held a meeting in Bhubaneswar on Friday and viewed the video footage of the incident. (ANI) Congress pursuing extradition of Prabhakaran: Sonia
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to top Chennai, May 18 (ANI): Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said her party was constantly taking up the matter of extradition of LTTE chief Prabhakaran with the Centre. "My party would continue pursuing the matter", she added. Sonia stated this in a reply to a letter addressed to her by party's Tamil Nadu unit vice-president Era Anbarasu, who wanted a resolution on Prabhakaran's extradition be adopted at the forthcoming AICC session. A copy of Anbarasu's letter dated on May 5 and Sonia's reply dated May 9 were released to the press on Saturday. In the letter, Anbarasu told Gandhi that he felt "hurt and humiliated" when political leaders in his state accused her (Sonia) of not taking up Prabhakaran's extradition with the Centre. He said, "in the light of the criticism and in order to counter the allegation, I feel a resolution to extradite Prabhakaran from Sri Lanka to India for his trial in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case may be passed in the ensuing AICC session". "It is apt and appropriate to pass such a resolution at this juncture", the letter added. Anbarasu also criticised his senior in state politics EVKS Elangovan for "miserably failing" to take up the question of extradition. (ANI)
Lone Sikkim MP resigns from party Go to top Siliguri, May 18 (ANI): The lone Lok Sabha MP from Sikkim, Bhim Dahal, has quit all party posts and the primary membership of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front. He was the party vice-president and member of the Central Working Comittee. He attributed his resignation, announced on Friday night, to the "autocratic attitude of the chief minister". According to him, Pawan Chamling was not attaching any importance to the founder- members of the SFD and sidelining veteran party memebrs. Dahal further alleged that the chief minister was not at all serious about the development of the state.(ANI)
EVMs for J and K Assembly polls
Go to top Srinagar, May 18 (ANI): As many as 9000 electronic voting machines would be used for conducting the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, which are slated to be held either in late September or early October, Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy announced here on Saturday. The EC is touring the state to study the situation ahead of the polls, especially in the wake of recurring incidents of violence. "To conduct the Assembly polls smoothly, we will be introducing EVMs in Jammu and Kashmir. These machines would be provided in all polling stations throughout the state to prevent manipulation", he said. Krishnamurthy added that security would be provided to all political parties taking part in the election. In the past, Assembly polls have been held in phases to allow troops to shift from one region to another to provide adequate security. On many occasions, polls in the state have been marred by allegations of vote rigging and coercion.(ANI)
Broken embankments renew the worry of Gorakhpur villagers
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top Gorakhpur, May 18 (ANI): The embankments which broke during last year's floods have once again become a cause of worry for the villagers here. With the repair work yet to be started, they say, these broken embankments would lead to a big problem during monsoons which are barely a month away from now. Every year the rains wreak havoc as a large part of agricultural land is immersed in knee-deep water, thereby damaging crops worth crores of rupees. The eastern region of UP is highly flood-prove. The worst sufferes are the villagers as agriculture is their only source of income. Villages close to rivers Rapti, old Rapti and Kumaon are the rivers that devastate the area. Chandrabhan Yadav, a villager, said, "During last year's flood, the embankment, called Kutriya, surrounding the village was broken. It has not been repaired until now. If it is not repaired in time, all the villagers would be drowned in the next rainy season". Lately, the irrigation department started repair work at some places. But the people say that if the work is started at this point of time, when the monsoon is round the corner, the repaired embankment would not be strong enough to resist the heavy floods. However, the irrigation department is confident that the repairs will be over by June 15 and will be strong enough to hold the water. Chief Engineer R.C. Aggarwal said, "We have started working on 36 damaged embankments out of which eight have already been completed. We will finish the work by June 15". (ANI)
Narmada Dam height to be raised by five metres
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top Ahmedabad, May 18 (ANI): Despite stiff opposition from environmentalists and social activists, the state government has decided to raise the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam by five metres. Those opposed to the move say that 8,500 more families will be affected as a consequence. At least 40,000 familes have already been displaced in the reservior area of the dam. The decision of Narmada Control Authority was announced by Chief Minister Narendra Modi late on Friday. He inspected the dam's progress and said the next phase of construction would be completed before the onset of rainy season in the next seven weeks. Apparantly referring to at the agitation led by social activist Medha Patkar, he said, "unfortunately some people with vested interests have tried to come in the way of the dam's construction". "But, finally work has started. Over the past few months, there was a similar protest against the raising of the height of the dam. We have, however, now decided to raise the height by five metres. The dam will now go up to 98 metres. This has been cleared by the Narmada Control Authority," the chief minister added. With the added increase in its height, the dam would be able to store more water in the reservoir and 8000 to 10000 cusecs water would soon start flowing from the bypass tunnel. Environmentalists have fiercely opposed the project, saying millions of tribal people will be displaced, whereas the benefits would be limited. Cleared by the Centre in 1987, the project involves construction of around 3200 small, medium-sized and large dams on the 1300-km long Narmada river and its tributaries to generate electricity and provide water to millions of people. The dam is likely to benefit Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The project worth hundreds of crores of rupees is being largely financed by state governments and market borrowings after the World Bank withdrew financing in 1993. It is expected to be fully completed by 2025. (ANI)
Al-Qaeda, Taliban fighters fire on coalition forces
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to top Kabul, May 18 (ANI): Eastern Afghanistan witnessed a major battle when about 1,000 British and Australian troops came under fire from Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The Australian Special Air Service (SAS) forces were targetted from a number of locations by a large group of fundamentalist fighters. Hundreds of British Marines, backed by US air support, were sent in to "assist the Australian SAS task force who are engaged in combat", Brigadier Roger Lane told the media. Some of the enemy soldiers have been killed, he claimed and said there have been no casualties on the coalition side. Operation Candor in Patkia province, new venture, is aimed at destruction or capture of terrorists. The war is being fought in a mountainous area at heights of up to 2,438 meters, a region normally used by AQT groups. It was some distance away from Pakistan, which borders Patkia province, added Lane, who commands the 1700-strong UK task force. It is the first time that British troops have had direct contact with opponent fighters since the task force began deploying to Afghanistan in late March. Lane described the size of the AQT forces as substantial and they fired at the Australians for several hours. Meanwhile, Australia's defence department said that its special forces fought two gunbattles on Thursday and they were believed to have killed at least one enemy soldier before withdrawing under US air support. "The first element come into contact yesterday afternoon and was involved in a firefight. Fortunately no Australians were killed or injured in that fight," Brigadier Mike Hannan told reporters in Canberra. About 150 Australian Special Air Service troops are in Afghanistan as part of the US-led assault. (ANI)
Take your High Commissioner back, India tells Pakistan
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to top New Delhi, May 18 (ANI): In what looks like a tough but careful response to the Jammu killings last Tuesday, India on Saturday asked Pakistan to recall its High Commissioner to New Delhi, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. India blames Pakistan for the Jammu attack, the deadliest in eight months, which claimed 32 lives. India had recalled its own envoy to Islamabad soon after the December 13 attack on Parliament, allegedly carried out by Pakistan-based militant outfits, and announced that the staff of Pakistan's High Commission in New Delhi had to be reduced by half. Although Qazi continued to stay in Delhi, India had stopped dealing with him directly since December. "For the sake of parity of representation between the two countries, the High Commissioner of Pakistan who is currently in India (will) be required to return to Islamabad. No time frame has been given for his return," External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters after the meeting. (ANI)
Pearl's tracksuit, shirt buttons found in grave
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to top Karachi, May 18 (ANI): The site where the Pakistani police dug up the remains of the body believed to be that of Daniel Pearl, the kidnapped and murdered US journalist, has thrown up more conclusive evidence: his tracksuit jacket and shirt buttons. This is certainly going to help the investigators of the crime in a big way. The beheaded body had been discovered in a grave near a one-room building in a city suburb where Pearl had been held captive before being put to death. The investigating team also found a chair on which the Wall Street Journal reporter sat handcuffed while being videotaped for the last time in his life. General Rashid Qureshi, a spokeman for President Pervez Musharraf, has said that the police are now almost convinced the body is indeed Pearl's. Samples of the blood splattered on the wall has been sent for DNA testing. The grave was apparently found on the basis of information provided by a key suspect arrested on Thursday. His identity has not been disclosed. Ahmed Saeed Omar Sheikh, taken into custody in February, had initially admitted having organised Pearl's kidnapping, but later retracted his statement. He and three alleged accomplices are being tried by an anti-terrorism court in a high-security prison in Hyderabad, about 100 miles from Karachi. The judge has postponed a decision on a request by the chief prosecutor to send a panel to Britain to videotape the testimony of Pearl's wife, Mariane. (ANI)
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