Tehelka
releases footage again, says Zaheera was bribed
New
Delhi: Tehelka has released a video footage, which claims
that Gujarat BJP MLA Madhu Srivastava paid Rs.18 lakh for
buying the Best Bakery case's prime witness, Zaheera Sheikh.
Quite known for its investigative nature, Tehelka today
released the 10-minute video footage and screened it at
a news conference. The footage showed Srivastava telling
Vadodara corporator Nisar Bapu that the amount paid to Zaheera
Sheikh was Rs.18 lakh. "At least now Zaheera Sheikh must
be made by some authority to give the clear picture in the
Best Bakery carnage," said Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun
Tejpal. Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, who had been
recently accused by Sheikh of threatening her to give "wrong
testimony", called the footage "a very interesting development".
Zaheera recently accused Teesta for threatening her and
pressing for making statements according to her wishes.
Fourteen persons were killed when a rioting mob torched
the Best Bakery on March 1, 2002 during the bandh call given
by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad after the Sabarmati Express
train carnage at Godhra claimed the lives of 59 kar sevaks
on February 27,2002. So far, 17 people have been arrested
in connection with the case. Another four are yet to be
nabbed by the police.
34.1
mln dlrs foreign stake in Danik Jagran (Go
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London:
Irish publishing group Independent News and Media is
buying up a 26 per cent stake in Danik Jagran in a deal
worth 34.1 million dollars. Jagran publishes India's top-selling
daily newspaper, the Hindi- language Dainik Jagran, which
has been in circulation for 62 years. News of the deal came
as the group announced that its results would meet market
forecasts. The company reported strong revenue growth across
all its major markets. Group advertising revenues were up
over 10 per cent year-on-year, the group said, with overall
circulation revenues are expected to increase almost 10
per cent year-on-year. This was helped by the positive impact
of "compact" newspaper editions in Ireland and the UK, it
said. "2004 has proven to be an important year for Independent
News & Media," the BBC quoted, chief executive Sir Anthony
O'Reilly as saying. "Our simple aim at Independent is to
be the low cost producer in every region in which we operate.
I am confident that we will show a meaningful increase in
earnings for 2005."
Pak
court orders Zardari's release (Go
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Karachi:
A Pakistani court on Wednesday ordered the release of
Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of former premier Benazir
Bhutto, accepting his plea for bail a day after he was arrested
in Islamabad for failing to attend a court hearing. The
petition had been accepted, said Rehman Hussein Jaffri,
one of two judges hearing the request on behalf of Zardari
at the Karachi High Court. "He is granted fresh bail for
300,000 rupees (5,000 dollars)," he told the court in Karachi.
Azizullah Sheikh, a lawyer for Zardari, was quoted by an
international news agency as saying that he hoped to secure
Zardari's release by Wednesday evening. Zardari would be
freed from house arrest in Karachi as soon as the local
authorities received the court order, Sindh Home Minister
Abdul Rauf Siddiqui was quoted as saying. On hearing the
news, over a dozen supporters gathered at Pakistan People's
Party secretariat in Karachi and distributed sweets, greeted
each other and chanted pro-Bhutto slogans. Zardari, who
was freed on bail on November 22 afte spending nearly eight
years in jail on charges of corruption, murder and drug
smuggling, was rearrested on Tuesday after failing to attend
a bail hearing in a murder case against him at an anti-terrorism
court in Karachi. He was detained by police at Islamabad
Airport after arriving to meet supporters who had planned
celebratory rallies. He was flown back the same day to Karachi.
His re-arrest appeared to dim hopes of reconciliation between
former Prime Minister Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
and military leader, President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally
of Washington in the war on terror. Zardari appeared to
have angered the military government after his release last
month by calling for fresh elections next year, analysts
said. Before Zardari's arrest on Tuesday, police used batons
and lobbed tear gas to break up a crowd of about 500 supporters
who tried to enter Islamabad Airport to greet him. Dozens
of protesters were detained.
Maoists
strike in Nepal turns violent, 18 trucks torched (Go
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Kathmandu:
Nepal's Maoist insurgents continued to spread disruption
across the country, calling blockades in three new districts
and torching 18 trucks today. The communist guerrillas have
stepped up their anti-government activities ahead of the
ninth anniversary of the start of their "People's War",
which began in February 1996, report The News. The rebels
had closed down Kathmandu valley for 48 hours from Monday.
US
to continue electoral process in Pak (Go
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Washington:
The US State Department has said that the Bush Administration
will continue to impress upon the fact that it wants a democratic
set-up in Pakistan, and will "support the electoral process
in Pakistan". US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
told reporters here on Tuesday that Washington is eagerly
looking forward to the time when elections will be held
in Pakistan in accordance with the "international standards
and full participation of all political parties". Boucher
further added that the 2007 national elections to be held
in Pakistan would to a great extent play a key role in shaping
Pakistan as a modern and moderate state. "As democracy involves
more than elections, we hope to see Pakistan strengthen
its institutions, particularly its judiciary and its parliament,"
the paper quoted Boucher as saying. He further added that
Washington would whole-heartedly support Pakistan's transition
to democracy in a variety of ways, adding that the US had
never soft-pedalled its support for democracy in Pakistan.
Inzamam
struggling with mystery ailment (Go
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Melbourne:
Pakistan's chances of giving a befitting reply to Australia
in the upcoming second Test (Boxing Day Test) here have
suffered a major jolt with captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq reportedly
struggling with a mystery back ailment. According to The
Age,Inzamam's mystery ailment is causing grave concern to
the team management, though it has been acknowledged that
his back pain is possibly related to a stomach problem.
The 34-year-old Pakistani skipper has reportedly told Coach
Bob Woolmer that he will play in the second Test in spite
of the constant pain. Inzamam has reportedly undergone bone
scans and blood tests in Perth. "He gets this ailment quite
often now, so we need to get it tested out properly. We
thought it might be a uric acid problem, but they threw
that out. The doctors are going through tests to eliminate
each possibility until they know what it is," the paper
quoted Woolmer as saying in Perth. "It hurts him bending
down, sitting, it hurts him all the time. He told me he
will play, but that he needs to get it sorted out. It doesn't
help him batting. He's restricted. It's a strange ailment.
We probably need to get him in the swimming pool," he added.
Inzamam is taking antibiotics and anti-inflammatories in
a bid to play at the MCG. In a related development, speedster
Shoaib Akhtar, who bruised his left shoulder in Perth, has
been recovering well with physiotherapy. "Shoaib's all right
as far as I know," Woolmer said.
