Main Page                                                                     Archives

 

Hannah Foster murderer Kohli to be handed over to CBI

   Kolkata: A court in Kalimpong today accepted a petition filed by Darjeeling Police and ordered Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, the prime accused in the rape and murder of British teenager Hannah Foster, to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further interrogation. A separate petition was also moved by the Punjab Police to probe an alleged passport forgery by Kohli. However, the modalities and date of the hand over were not yet finalised. Kohli was remanded to judicial custody till July 29 by the court on Friday, a day after his arrest in a village near Darjeeling.

Chautala smells a rat over SYL canal row (Go To Top)

          Gurgaon: Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today accused the Centre of being partisan in handling a water sharing row involving the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Addressing a news conference here, Chautala said that the UPA Government was biased in favour of Punjab. "The Central Government instead of asking them to take the bill (anulling water sharing with neighbouring states) back has gone to the Supreme Court. It is quite astonishing that the federal Congress-led government was unable to stop their party government's action in Punjab. This shows that both the governments were acting together," Chautala said. Chautala urged the Centre to get the Supreme Court verdict implemented for the early completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, besides demanding the dismissal of Punjab government as a deterrent to other states from raking up similar issues. "There is no other way. The Punjab state government should be dismissed immediately, otherwise other state governments will also start acting on their own," Chautala said.

           The completion of the canal would have ensured waters for Haryana and Rajasthan. But Punjab has been delaying the construction work for more than a decade. Farmers in Punjab, who form an influential pressure group as far the distribution of the country's granary is concerned, strongly oppose the sharing of the river waters, saying it would lead to acute water scarcity for them. Most of the 306-kilometre long canal has been completed. The matter originates in the distribution of rivers in the region. While Sutlej and Yamuna pass through Punjab, they do not pass through Haryana, which was till sixties a part of Punjab.

Haryana Congress MLAs resign over SYL issue (Go To Top)

          Chandigarh: All the Congress MLAs in Haryana have resigned over the controversial Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) issue. In a meet of Congress office bearers, the state unit of the party decided to approach the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi over the issue. The party has decided to form a committee to coordinate the vexed issue of SYL canal construction. "We have decided to form a committee and its decision will be communicated to the media. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi will be approached to sort out the issue. They should make Amarinder (Punjab Chief Minister) come round," said Bhajan Lal, Congress President Haryana. The Haryana Congress has also called for a special session of the state assembly to discuss the issue.

TN school fire toll rises to 89, five arrested (Go To Top)

           Kumbhakonam/Chennai (Tamil Nadu): The toll in Friday's fire at a state goverment-run school here has risen to 89, and police have arrested five persons on charges of negligence and culpable homicide. Over 18 children are still battling for their lives at two hospitals here. Some of the survivors have been sent to Chennai for treatment. Distraught parents are still trying to come to terms with the tragedy that has hit their lives. "My daughter said she did not want to go to school today. But I insisted that she must as she had two days of holidays coming up. Now, I have lost my daughter forever. I have lost everything. How can this happen to us?"," a television channel quoted one mother as saying. Meanwhile, Union IT and Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, who was sent by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convey his condolences to the bereaved families, today said he would request the Prime Minister to call on chief ministers to ensure safety measures in all schools. "Safety measures should be adopted in all the schools to save the lives of millions of children", he said. He also appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to take all precautionary measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents, adding that he would be submitting a report on the incident to the Prime Minister. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is also flying into Kumbhakonam this afternoon and will visit the aggrieved families.