Three AP farmers commit suicide
Guntur
(AP): It seems that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rajshekhar
Reddy has not succeeded in solving the farmers' woes even
as three more committed suicide during the past 24 hours.
Poverty had driven them to resort to the drastic step, said
the police. During the last Assembly polls, when he led
his party to an unexpected victory, Reddy's main agenda
was to come to the rescue of the poverty-stricken farmers.
The three farmers who ended their lives belonged to Guntur
district. They consumed pesticides. E Brahmananda Reddy
(40) felt helpless in paying off the two lakh rupees loan
since his crop had failed. With no ray of hope, he decided
to end his life. Similarly, Bolla Babu (35) committed suicide
after he could not pay the debt of one lakh rupees which
he had taken to buy seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. In
another incident in Ingurajala village, N Srinivasa Rao
(25) went to his cotton field and swallowed pesticides.
With the latest case of farmers committing suicide, the
total number of such deaths since May has risen to 63.
Karnataka
to take back Uma Bharti case (Go
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Bangalore:
The Congress-led Karnataka government on Monday decided
to stick to the May 2002 cabinet decision which talked of
dropping charges against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister
Uma Bharti against whom it had sought reopening of the rioting
case in May last in a Hubli court. Advocate General B.T.
Parthasarathy said, "there is no political vendetta against
Bharti". He added that the state government stood by the
cabinet decision of 2002 withdrawing all charges against
Bharti and others. Bharti, who resigned as Chief Minister
last Monday to appear before the Court in Hubli, faced charges
in a case of rioting in which five people were killed in
police firing when she defied prohibitory orders to hoist
the national flag at the Idgah maidan on the Independence
day in 1994.
PM
to attend UN session; to meet Bush, Musharraf (Go
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New
Delhi: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will attend
the UN General Assembly session, and on its sidelines will
have a breakfast meeting with US President George W Bush
on September 21 in New York. Official sources said that
Singh is also expected to meet Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf the next day. The PM would leave for UN on an
eight-day trip on September 19. He will have a stopover
at London where he will meet British Prime Minister Tony
Blair. Singh will deliver his maiden address to the UN General
Assembly session on September 23. He is slated to return
home on September 26. During his speech the PM is expected
to make out a strong case for reforms of the UN Security
Council and India's bid for a permanent seat in the world
body.
Chandy
likely to be Kerala CM (Go
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Thiruvananthapuram:
UDF convener Oommen Chandy is the front-runner for the
race to Kerala Chief Minister post. He is said to have a
clean image in the state politics, and a solid backing from
a majority of the CLP members and Front partners. Chandy
also enjoys the support of Antony loyalists in the CLP,
as well as a section in the `I' group loyal to K Karunakaran,
sources in the state unit of the Congress said. Defence
Minister Pranab Mukherjee and senior Congressmen Anil Shastri,
Ahamed Patel and Margaret Alva would oversee the selection
of the new CM at the CLP meeting later in the day.
SC
notice to Bihar Govt on Shahabuddin bail plea (Go
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New
Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Bihar
Government on a petition filed by RJD MP from Siwan, Mohd.
Shahabuddin, seeking bail in a case pertaining to abduction
and suspected murder of CPI-ML (Liberation) activist Munna
Chaudhary in 2001. A Bench comprising Justice S.V. Patil
and Justice B.N. Srikrishna, while issuing notice, rejected
the plea of Shahabuddin's counsel Sushil Kumar seeking stay
of the contempt proceedings initiated against him by the
Patna High Court. The HC had initiated contempt proceedings
on the basis of press reports on the movements of the RJD
MP during his visit to New Delhi to take oath as a MP while
in judicial custody. Shahabuddin's counsel contended that
all other co-accused have been granted bail in the matter
and also sought stay of the contempt proceedings initiated
against him by the High Court. However, the Apex Court rejected
the plea for stay and directed him to face the contempt
proceedings.
Sunil
Dutt celebrates Raksha Bandhan with sex workers (Go
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Mumbai:
The Public Health Organisation, under its 'PROJECT SAHELI'
celebrated 'Rakshabandhan' by enabling hundreds of sex workers
to tie 'rakhi' to PHO president, cine-star turned politician
and Union Minister for Youth and Sports, Sunil Dutt. The
event took place at a dim-lit cinema house called New Roshan
Theatre. Dutt specially flew down from Delhi for this programme
held at the heart of India's largest red-light area and
the infamous 'cages' of Falkland Road. Also present was
PHO Secretary Dr. I.S. Gilada who informed that the Govt.
Of India's AIDS Control Organisation has joined the World
Health Organisation (WHO) initiative of "Anti-HIV treatment
to 3 million people by 2005" in the world called '3X5 initiative',
and has started providing free HIV treatment at some centres.
For the workers, this was a lifetime experience. Wearing
traditional sarees, wielding thaalies with aarti and sweets,
the 'sahelies' made a conscious effort to leave behind the
agony for a day. The PHO has been organizing the Raksha
Bandhan programme for the past 21 years in an effort to
mainstream the most neglected sections of the society by
making them part of its comprehensive effort to minimize
medico-social impact of STDs and HIV. Perhaps in a bid to
spread the message -'Be positive, but not HIV positive'.
Coimbatore
temple collapse: Death toll rises to six (Go
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Coimbatore:
The death toll in the temple building collapse incident
in Coimbatore rose to six on Monday. A roof of a temple
under construction had collapsed in Coimbatore town on Sunday.
Local SP Dinakaran said: "In this incident so far six people
have been killed and we are searching for more bodies to
be removed from the debris." Rescue operations are in full
swing to evacuate people trapped under the debris. Priya
Ravichandaran, fire officer, said that they have asked for
more personnel to be pressed for the rescue work. "Now rescue
work is in full wing. We had also asked for the western
region of Tamil Nadu fire service personnel so that they
are also engaged in the rescue work. At present 50 men are
working," he said.
Indian
peacekeeping troops for Kosovo (Go
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New
Delhi: A special contingent of the Rapid Action Force
(RAF) was sent to Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission. RAF
personnel have been deployed in Kosovo since May 2000. The
latest contingent has 40 RAF men, including eight senior
officers. RAF chief said their experience in dealing with
various ethnic groups made them best suited to deal with
the violence in Kosovo. "The difference in the other forces
and RAF is that it is especially meant to deal with violence,
urban violence, rural violence and violence related to communal
violence. Kosovo is reeling under ethnic violence so we
have done commendably good job," RAF IG H.K. Sareen said.
Raksha
Bandhan celebrated (Go
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New
Delhi/Srinagar/Mumbai: Raksha Bandhan was celebrated
across the country on Monday. Sisters tied "Rakhis" on their
brothers' wrists as a token of love wishing them prosperity
and happiness. The brothers on their part pledge to protect
their honour. In the Capital, disabled children tied Rakhis
on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wrist. "It is a festival
of sisters tying Rakhis to their brothers for safety and
it is a symbol of love. Our country is in great need of
goodwill," said Singh. In Kashmir women tied Rakhis to their
brothers and prayed for their long life in the historic
Shankaracharya temple. The festival was also celebrated
in tinsel world Mumbai too. Film actress Mahima Choudhry
tied rakhi to her brother Aakash who flew down from the
US for the occasion. The origin of this festival dates back
several centuries to the time when an upper caste Hindu
queen Rani Roopmati, in time of war, sent a thread to the
Muslim ruler Jehangir, requesting protection from the enemy.
King Jehangir accepted the thread and honoured her request.
Since then, the tradition continues.
Bangladesh
faces fourth strike in a week; life crippled (Go
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Dhaka:
Shops, schools, offices and businesses across Bangladesh
were shut on Monday for the fourth day in a week as a strike
called by the Opposition to protest a deadly grenade attack
got underway. Dhaka's usually crowded streets were almost
empty, except for a few cycle-rickshaws and police vehicles.
Tanjim Ahmed, an Opposition leader, said: "Our party has
called this general strike today to protest the barbarious
attack and assassination attempt on the leader of Opposition
Sheikh Hasina. As we have stated numerous times, we believe
that democracy and the ideas of democracy are threatened
in Bangladesh. These attacks have perpetrated on several
occasions and we firmly protest this heinous attack. We
want the government to resign as it has failed to provide
security to the country and to the leader of the opposition.
We demand that this government should resign immediately."
As many as 19 people were killed and more than 150 wounded
when at least seven grenades were thrown at the rally being
addressed by Hasina more than a week ago. Hasina, the Awami
League chief, had escaped unhurt, though her hearing was
briefly impaired.
Bangladesh
opposition unites to oust Zia government (Go
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by Nazrul Islam
Dhaka:
Opposition parties in Bangladesh have reportedly reached
a consensus on ousting the government of Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia, which it termed as being "fanatic, terrorist
and autocratic." "We are all of the common view not to see
this government anymore. We demand the resignation of the
BNP-Jamaat alliance government," former premier and Awami
League chief Sheikh Hasina told reporters here on Sunday
night. The 11-party opposition alliance resolved that the
present government was creating an anarchic situation in
Bangladesh. "We felt that there is no alternative but to
topple this government to ensure security of lives and property,"
Hasina said, adding that the opposition would sit shortly
to chalk out a fresh round of anti-government protests.
Hasina also said that participants at Sunday's meeting had
turned down the government's offer for a dialogue following
the August 21 bomb attack at an opposition rally.
Pak
urges restraint after India test fires AGNI II missile (Go
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Islamabad:
Pakistan has reportedly asked India to maintain a "strategic
restraint" following Sunday's test firing of the AGNI II
nuclear capable missile. The News quoted Foreign Office
spokesman Masood Khan as saying that as per the agreement
between the two countries, each would inform the other in
advance about any missile tests. "Pakistan does not favour
an open-ended arms race in South Asia. We believe that a
strategic restraint is in the interest of both nations,"
Khan said in a statement. "We would hold further talks on
this subject in the near future," the paper quoted him as
saying. Earlier, India and Pakistan had agreed to set up
a hotline to prevent nuclear confrontation in addition to
a ban on nuclear tests and formulate an agreement on advanced
information regarding impending missile tests.
SBI
hikes fixed home loan interest rates (Go
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Mumbai:
The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday hiked its rate
of interest on its fixed housing loans in a bid to encourage
borrowers to go for floating interest rates. According to
a circular, the Bank said that the fixed rates for loans
upto the five-year period has been revised from 7.75 per
cent to 8 per cent while for the 5-15 years loan the rates
were moved up from 8.25 per cent to 8.75 per cent. For the
tenure between 15-20 per cent, the interest rate was fixed
at 9 per cent as against previous 8.50 per cent. On an annualised
basis, the interest rates were fixed at 7.50 per cent for
upto five years, 8 per cent between 5 to 15 years and at
8.25 per cent between 15 to 20 years. The revised fixed
interest rates for fresh housing loans or switch over of
floating rate loans to fixed rate loans would apply with
immediate effect, the circular stated.
