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Women Bill defeated in J and K Assembly

          Srinagar: After a marathon debate lasting more than six hours, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly rejected the controversial Women's Bill which entailed forfeiting property rights of those Kashmiri women who married a man not hailing from the state. The Bill also contained provisions saying that such women would also lose voting rights. The Bill did not apply to men in the state. Besides the Opposition, the Congress and the Panthers Party, both allies in the PDP-led coalition government, opposed the Bill. The bill was moved by the ruling PDP. The Bill was rejected amid uproarious scenes with the opposition National Conference (NC) alleging that speaker Tarachand had not followed proper procedure. Later, the Speaker said: "We counted vote of those who came forward. There should be 59 for the bill passage but there were only 47. Hence the bill has been defeated."

32 ministers sworn in in Gaur's ministry in Madhya Pradesh (Go To Top)

          Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar today administered the oath of office to thirty-two ministers, including 16 of cabinet rank, in the recently sworn in Babulal Gaur Ministry in Madhya Pradesh following the resignation by former Chief Minster Uma Bharati in the wake of a no -bailable warrant by a court in Karnataka. Those sworn in included, Anup Mishra, Kailash Chawla, Dhal Singh Bisen, Omprakash Dhurve, Narendra Tomar, Vijay Shah, Jayant Malaiyya, Harnam Singh Rathore, Dilip Bhatare, Archana Chitnis and Rustam Singh. Alka Jain, Dhul Singh Choudhary, Anchal Sonkar and Devichand Patel are those from the Uma Bharati government who have been dropped in the present ministry.

Sena launches poll campaign with 'Joota Maar' drive (Go To Top)

         Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Friday kicked off his party's poll campaign for the forthcoming Maharashtra Asembly elections with a "Joota Maar Andolan". The campaign was aimed at Union Petroleum Minister's "objectionable" remarks against freedom fighter Veer Saavarkar while speaking in just concluded Parliament session. Along with his thousands of supporters, Thackeray beat the effigy of Aiyar with sandals and shoes. Aiyar has been targeted by Hindu parties after he ordered the removal of a poem penned by Veer Savarkar, inscribed at Cellular Jail in Port Blair. "If one is Indian one must not feel any shame in singing Vande Mataram. The Muslims kneel down and pray to Allah, what possible objection could they have to salute the country, Vande Mataram praises the motherland, and is not religion specific, " Thackeray said after garlanding a statue of Savarkar. On the occasion, Savarkar's son Vishwasrao Savarkar accused the UPA government of inciting people to restore to violent means. "It is not the protestors who are responsible for it but someone who committed the mistake he is responsible, why did he give them chance, by inciting them," Savarkar told reporters. He added that even Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, had great respect for Savarkar.

Eighteen hurt in twin blasts in Maharashtra (Go To Top)

         Mumbai: At least eighteen people were injured today in two separate bomb blasts in quick succession at places of worship of minority community in Jalna and Poorna towns in Maharashtra, prompting the authorities to clamp curfew in Jalna. Unidentified persons on a motorcyle lobbed crude bombs at Kadriya Masjid in Jalna town of Jalna district injuring five people while a similar incident occurred at a mosque on the outskirts of Poorna town in Parbhani district, leaving 13 injured, police sources said. Senior police officials said, the first blast occurred at Jalna at 1:45 pm, while the second explosion occurred barely 15 minutes later.

Striking truckers talks end in a deadlock (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Strking truckers on Friday insisted release of their arrested leaders to resume negotiations on calling off their seven-day old strike. The two sides have held almost daily talks but failed to reach a settlement. Cracking the whip, government arrested 12 union leaders on Thursday in New Delhi while some state governments have also arrested truckers under the Essential Services Maintainence Act (ESMA)."We will begin the talks only when our fellow truckers who were arrested under ESMA are released. The ESMA against them should be withdrawn. They have given the assurance regarding that and have also put forward some proposals," Deepak Sachdeva, member of the All Indian Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), said after their talks with Revenue Secretary Vineeta Rai. The union leaders say they want to meet Finance Minister P. Chidambram to press for quashing of ten percent service tax on goods booking agents proposed in the union budget. The budget was passed by parliament on Thursday, retaining the tax. While Chidamabaram has clarified that the tax is not on truckers but booking agents, the truckers say there's little distinction. Meanwhile the 12 union members arrested under ESMA were produced in a New Delhi court. The strike, which is in its seventh day has affected the industrial production across India due to disruption in raw materials and component supplies.

Hindu devotees take holy dip in Nasik (Go To Top)

          Nasik: Millions of Hindus took a holy dip in the sacred waters of Godavari river here Friday as part of the ongoing Kumbh Mela. The year-long festival is one of the Hindus' most revered festivals here. The Kumbh Mela is celebrated once in 12 years in four major pilgrim centres around the country. "Today the Kumbh fair is going to come to an end. The importance of this Kumbh is that it takes place for around 13 months whereas the rest of the Kumbhs take place for a month or two." said Satish Shukla, head of the local priests association. During the Kumbh Mela, Nasik is in a festive mood which makes people get away from their daily chores and experience the spiritual ecstasy. "We're fortunate that we are living in India. Every year thousands of people come here and there wishes are fulfilled here. We had a great time in this Kumbh which went on for 13 months," said Rajiv, a pilgrim. According to Hindu mythology, Nasik is one of four places where the nectar of immortality fell to earth after Garuda, the winged carrier of God Vishnu, spilled it while flying off with the pitcher of nectar.

Villagers evacuated in flooded Gujarat (Go To Top)

          Bahruch (Gujarat): Hundred of villagers evacuated here Friday even as heavy rains threatened to breach the Narmada dam. Relief officials said about 1000 families living along the banks of Narmada river have been evacuated to relief camps. At least five people were swept away by the floods in Bahruch, 225 km from Ahmedabad, last month. Nearly 130 people have been killed in flood-related incidents in Gujrat since the monsoons hit the state in June. The water level touched the danger mark after heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas of neighbouring state Madhya Pradesh. The overflowing river has now breached the dangerous 30 feet mark at the Golden Bridge in Bahruch. "So far we have evacuated 875 villagers and sent to safe place. A red alert has also been sounded off. The low-lying areas have also been alerted. All measures are being taken by us," said R.P. Barad, Deputy Collector of Bahruch. Bahruch gets flooded every year after heavy rainfall in the upper catchment area of Narmada in both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

PM urges CBI to ensure innocents not tortured (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the CBI and the anti-corruption agencies of the country to ensure that innocents were not in any way subjected to "mental torture". "It is sometimes complained that the CBI, which registers a Preliminary Enquiry (PE), attempts to include in the charge as many persons as it can. Very often, after the probe is over and a Regular Case (RC) is registered, many out of that original list are found not to have even a remote connection with the case," the Prime Minster was quoted as saying while inaugurating the 15th Biennial Conference of state anti-corruption bureaux and the CBI. "One can only imagine what mental torture those people would have gone through in the interim period between the registering of the PE and the RC. While you shall be justified in instilling fear in the minds of the corrupt, any harm done to the innocent damages your image," he added. Urging the CBI to engage psychologists, Behaviourial Science Trainers and counsellors at the CBI's training institutions for psychologically developing the officers to handle sensitive cases, he said that "It was equally important that law enforcement agencies should be insulated from any extraneous pressure and allowed to work with total autonomy".

Shaukat Aziz elected NA leader (Go To Top)

         Islamabad: Pakistani PM-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz was elected as leader of the National Assembly here Friday, thus clearing, perhaps, the last formality to become the country's premier. He got 191 votes even as the Opposition boycotted the Assembly session. The ARD (Alliance for Restoration Democracy) members were seen weraing black bands as a mark of protest against the non-issuance of production order for the Opposition's candidate Makhdom Jawed Hashmi. Other Opposition members protested and chanted slogans. Aziz is presently Pakistan's Finance Minister. He is considered a trusted lieutenant of President Pervez Musharraf. He will succeed Ch. Shujaat Hussain, who was made the caretaker PM almost a month back. As per Pakistani Constitution, a person should be a member of the National Assembly (NA) before he is installed as the PM. Aziz contested elections from two NA seats and won from both. Later, he resigned from the Tharparkar seat.

India beat South Korea 5-2, bags 7th position in hockey (Go To Top)

         Athens: India finally regained some pride when they beat South Korea 5-2 to retain their seventh position in the Olympic Games men's hockey competition here. While Gagan Ajit Singh, Vikram Pillay, Prabhjot Singh and Adam Sinclair shared the honours for India. The two goals from the South Korean sides were scored by Seong Hwan Ji and Seong Jung Kang.