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VHP intensifies stir against Sankaracharya's arrest

     New Delhi/ Amritsar: VHP activists today intensified their stir against the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jyaendra Saraswati. The seer has been under arrest for around three weeks on charges of murdering a temple official Shankararaman. VHP working president Ashok Singhal along with hundreds of his supporters courted arrest in New Delhi while protesting against the seer's arrest. "Jayendra Saraswathi is innocent. He should be released at the earliest. People will not tolerate the treatment meted out to seers. There will be revolution," he said. Thousands of VHP activists, including women, also courted arrest in Amritsar demanding immediate release of the seer. They raised slogans against the Centre and the Tamil Nadu governments before courting arrest. Jayendra Saraswathi, who heads a mutt in Chennai, was arrested last month on charges of murder, abatement and conspiracy to murder in a case that has largely shocked the Hindu country.

SP calls for anti-RJD alliance in Bihar polls (Go To Top)

     Hajipur: The Samajwadi Party has asked for the formation of an anti-RJD alliance to take on the ruling party in the coming assembly elections in Bihar. Accusing the RJD of 'pushing Bihar to backwardness' Samajwadi Party General Secretary asked Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) to forge an alliance with the Samajwadi and the Left parties to take on the Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD). "The SP welcomes Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's appeal to forge an anti-RJD alliance and will also talk to the Left parties to fight the election together," Amar Singh was quoted as saying. He further accused Laloo of hobnobbing with the industrialists and corporates for his own personal benefit and not the state's economic welfare. "I liasion with industrialists and other bigwigs for the development of Uttar Pradesh and not for any personal gain unlike Prasad who is ruining Bihar, his home state," he added. Even former Bollywood star and SP MP Jaya Prada lamented at the poor economic condition and rising crime graph in Bihar and urged for an immediate change in the state's political set-up to bring the state back on the path of development. "Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are neighbours, but there is a lot of difference in the economic conditions of the two states. There is an urgent need for bringing in a new government in Bihar to pull it out of backwardness," she said.

Sikdar floats parallel platform in West Bengal (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Dissident BJP leaders in West Bengal, led by former Union Minister Tapan Sikdar, today floated a parallel platform on grounds that the state BJP leadership had failed to take up "burning" issues, including the Left front government's "misrule" in the state. Accusing the state leadership of failing to activate the party against the Left front's misrule, Sikdar, while speaking at the launch of the Dr Syamaprasad Jana Jagaran Manch said, that the party had also failed to mobilise public opinion and create mass protests. He further added that since the BJP leadership in the state didn't raise up these issues, he deemed it fit to float a parallel platform in the state to take up the matter in right earnest. "I had wanted these programmes to be taken up from the BJP platform and had sought formation of a movement cell, but since that did not materialise, this platform was floated to take up the burning issues in the state," Sikdar was quoted as saying. Refuting suggestions that the formation of the platform was against the party, he said that the forum rather than anything else would only "strengthen the movement against the Left Front government in the state."

After Spain, Holland beats India 5-4 (Go To Top)

     Lahore: Indian hockey team today suffered their second defeat in succession when Holland beat them 5-4. India scored their first goal in the 5th minute through Sandeep ,Michael but Holland's Geert Jan Derikx levelled it in the 10th minute via penalty corner. India's penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema increased the lead to 2-1 in the 16th minute, but substitute VS Vinay restored parity in the 20th minute. The Dutch converted four penalty corners from as many as six they earned in the first half. Teun de Nooijer (24th) and Karel Klaver (34th) also scored via drag flicks while the Indian goal keeper Adrian d'Souza appeared puzzled. The Indians put up an improved show in the second session conceding only one goal to Holland. De Nooijer scored their fifth goal in the 61st minute. Arjun Halappa (46th) and Vikram Pillay (63rd) converted penalty corners in the second half for India. Now, India plays their next match against Germany on Tuesday.