Vadodara:
In a surprising development, key witness in the Best
Bakery trial, which has become the test case related to
religious riots in Gujarat, has yet again turned hostile.
Zaheera Sheikh, 20, backtracked on her statement, an inconsistency
which could rob the prosecution of substantiating charges
against the 21 accused. Addressing a news conference here
where her father's Best Bakery was set on fire on March
1, 2002 by a Hindu mob and 12 people including her family,
killed, Sheikh accused the NGO representing her of pressurising
her into making statements. Sheikh has also sought police
protection from Teetsa Setalvad, an activist of the NGO.
"We were brought to Bombay and put up at a hotel. Teesta
madam came and asked if I could recognise her. I said I
do not know you. Then she said that I have to fight for
the community and give a false statement against them. I
told her that I will put false blame on them, they are innocents.
But she forced me and emotionally blackmailed me into giving
a false statement. She locked me in her house and would
not let me go anywhere. She put a constant pressure on me
to change my statement," Sheikh said.
A
special court in Mumbai is due to hear the case further
on Thursday. India's Supreme Court had transferred the case
outside Gujarat on a plea by Sheikh that she was intimated
into not identifying the accused in court. The Gujarat High
Court had earlier upheld an acquittal of all 21 accused,
all Hindus barring a Muslim, by a lower court due to lack
of evidence. Social activists say that Sheikh's reported
statement has been made under pressure. Two other witnesses,
who have deposed before the Bombay special court have already
identified some of the accused. Tofel Ahmed Habibullah Sheikh,
22 identified seven of the 17 accused produced before court
by police, the rest four are absconding last month. On Monday,
Raees Khan Pathan, 19, identified five accused.
Barnala
sworn in as TN Governor (Go
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Chennai:
Surjit Singh Barnala was today sworn in as Tamil Nadu
Governor Nadu. State Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, along
with several of her cabinet colleagues, was among those
who attended the swearing-in ceremony. Barnala replaced
P.S. Ramamohan Rao who was removed by New Delhi. This is
Barnala's second stint as the state's governor. He was the
governor of Tamil Nadu in 1990-91 when the Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (DMK), now in opposition, was in power. Barnala's
appointment came despite stiff opposition from the state
government that had filed a suit in the Supreme Court seeking
to restrain the Centre from transferring or removing Rao.
But the Apex Court refused to grant any interim relief to
the state government.
Bobby
Jindal's family celebrates his Senate win (Go
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Malerkotla
(Punjab): Malerkotla, a dusty town in Punjab, came alive
with songs and dances as the news of Bobby Jindal winning
the US Congress elections was flashed in TV channels. Jindal,
a Republican candidate, who had last year lost the Governorship
race in Louisiana, won the US Congress elections beating
five other opponents by becoming the first Indian American
in five decades. Jindal's election is the first for an Indian-American
since 1956, when Dalip Singh Saund won a Congress seat from
California. Jindal's relatives distributed sweets and danced
on streets to celebrate the victory. Their phones have not
stopped since the results were announced. Harbinder Kumar
Jindal, a first cousin of Bobby, wished good luck to his
brother. "I called up Louisiana and came to know about Bobby's
(Bobby Jindal) victory. We are very happy and celebrating
by dancing and distributing sweets. We pray for his well
being," said Harbinder Kumar Jindal. Bobby's aunt, unaware
of which post Bobby had contested for, danced and distributed
sweets to celebrate her nephew's win. "I am celebrating,
distributing sweets that my son has won," said Jindal's
ecstatic aunt. 33-year-old poster boy of the Republican
Party, Jindal polled 78 per cent or 213,610 votes as against
his nearest Democrat rival Roy Armstrong who polled 7 per
cent or 18,531 votes.
HC
orders registration of FIR against Pappu Yadav (Go
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Patna:
Patna High Court today ordered registration of an FIR
against RJD MP from Madhepura Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu
Yadav for illegally revisiting Beur jail and merry-making
with his supporters on September 26. The Court also ordered
transfer of the Superintendent of Beur Jail. A division
bench comprising of state's acting Chief Justice Nagendra
Roy and Justice SN Hussain ordered the registration of FIR
against Yadav. "The division bench of acting Chief Justice
Nagendra Roy and Justice S N Hussain has ordered the state
government to register an FIR against Pappu Yadav in the
Beur Jail case. The court found the jail superintendent
responsible for the entire incident and said that he should
be transferred, said Surender Diwedi, the plaintiff lawyer.
The HC had on Monday ordered the IG (Prisons) to submit
a report within two days informing the names of the Beur
jail staff present on duty on September 26 when Yadav revisited
the prison after being released on bail, and reportedly
threw a party for his supporters.
Woman
killed on suspicion of being witch (Go
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Siliguri:
A 70-year old woman Nagasia was killed in Siliguri yesterday
by two youths of her village on the suspicion of being a
witch. Bihani was beaten to death by two youths Sibon and
Dhutu of her village. Both the accused charged the woman
of allegedly practising witch craft. After being beaten
mercilessly, she was taken to the hospital. She sustained
major injuries, and died a day after being admitted in the
hospital. Witch hunting is a common practice in backward
areas. Whenever an outbreak of some disease occurs or more
than one person dies, aged women are held responsible for
practising some wicked tricks. "They thought that she was
a witch and killed her. Both the killers live here only.
I don't know who is a witch, you should ask them who killed
Bihani", said Maghnath Nagasia, son of the deceased. Fate
of the women, who is being accused of wicked practices is
decided by the chief of the village. The administration
claims that these types of incidents occur because of lack
of proper education. "Police on reaching the spot found
that two guys were assaulting a 70 year old woman. We caught
hold of the two accused and started a case against them.
The lady was then taken to the hospital and a day after
she died. We have started a case," Siliguri DSP Joy Biswas
said. In order to create awareness among the villagers about
these kinds of practices, the administration has organised
many street plays but the result is not upto the mark. In
the last five years, 93 people have been killed, accused
of practicing witchcraft in Jalpaiguri district alone.
Kolkata
film fest begins (Go
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Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who
is also the State's Information and Cultural Minister, today
announced the weeklong Kolkata film festival. Bhattacharya
said that this yearly festival is a medium to portray Bengal's
rich cultural heritage to the rest of the country. "Our
festival is the most important festival. If you go through
the list of the films, we have covered almost 45 countries,
we are getting films from 45 countries, and most of the
films, which were made in 2003, 2004, all contemporary films.
The audience in Kolkata is totally different from any other
place. Kolkata festival with its content, its participation,
is something unique," said the chief minister. The festival
is divided into 11 categories. Nine films of Hungarian director
Istvan Szabo will be shown in Retrospective category . 'B
Happy', a famous Chilean film made by Gonzalo Justiniano
will be shown in Cinema International category. Wolfgang
Baker's movie 'Good Bye Lenin', which drew international
attention will also be shown in the fest . In the Indian
category, 5 movies will be shown.
Nigerian
President meets Manmohan Singh (Go
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New
Delhi: Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday
met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. Obasanjo,
the chairman of African Union arrived from Tokyo on Tuesday.
He is also slated to meet other top Indian dignitaries,
including Foreign Minister Natwar Singh later in the day
and address the Indian busines community on Thursday. India
and Nigeria have closely cooperated with each other in global
forums like the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, Group of 77
and the World Trade Organisation. Obasanjo is leading a
high-level delegation, which includes Finance and Commerce
Mininster Adamu Adris Waziri. Nigeria is India's largest
trading partner in Africa and its largest supplier of crude
oil.
Brahmos
supersonic cruise missile test-fired (Go
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Balasore:
Brahmos, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed
by India and Russia, was flight tested from the Bay of Bengal
off the Orissa coast today, defence sources said. The naval
version of the missile was test fired from the Indian navy's
destroyer +INS Rajput+ at around 11.18 a.m. Essentially
an anti-ship missile, Brahmos can also hit targets on land,
the sources said. Besides, the missile, which has multi-target
capability and enjoys a manoeuverable trajectory, can be
fired from a mobile platform on land. The missile has a
striking range of 290 km and weighs about three tonnes.
It is eight-meter long and carries a conventional warhead
weighing about 200 kg, the sources said.
Bush
re-elected President (Go
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Washington:
White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has said that President
George W. Bush was re-elected President of the United States
for the next four years. Addressing a rally the White House
official said that President Bush has got maximum popular
votes in the US history. According to US TV projections
and exit polls incumbent President George W. Bush has won
254 electoral votes and his Democrat rival Senator John
Kerry has won 252 electoral votes.
The
TV projection said that President Bush had won 20 electoral
votes of Ohio but Democrats had refused to accept the results.
The US TV projections said that President Bush has won nine
votes in Alabama, three electoral votes in Alaska, 10 in
Arizona, six votes in Arkansas, nine votes in Colorado,
27 in Florida, 15 electoral votes in Georgia, four in Idaho,
11 in Indiana, six in Kansas, eight in Kentucky, nine in
Louisiana, six in Mississippi, 11 in Missouri, three in
Montana, five in Nebraska, 15 in North Carolina, three in
North Dakota, seven in Oklahoma, eight in South Carolina,
three in South Dakota, 11 in Tennessee, 34 Texas, five in
Utah, 13 in Virginia, five in West Virginia, three in Wyoming
and five electoral votes in New Mexico. President Bush had
won 254 electoral votes in 28 states.
Democrat
candidate John Kerry has won 54 electoral votes in California,
seven in Connecticut, three votes in Delaware, four electoral
votes in Hawaii, 21 in Illinois, three in Maine, 10 votes
in Maryland, 12 votes in Massachusetts, 10 votes in Minnesota,
17 in Michigan, four in New Hampshire, 15 in New Jersey,
31 in New York, seven votes in Oregon, 21 in Pennsylvania,
four votes in Rhode Island, four votes in Vermont, 11 votes
in Washington state, three in Washington DC and ten votes
in Wisconsin. The Democrat candidate has earned total 252
electoral votes from 20 states.
Pakistan
premier arrives in Bangladesh (Go
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Dhaka:
Pakistan Prime Minister and current Chairperson of SAARC
Shaukat Aziz arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day visit
to discuss both issues related to SAARC and bilateral interests
with his Bangladesh counterpart. Bangladesh premier Khaleda
Zia received the Pakistani premier on his first visit to
Bangladesh since his assumption of office in August. Aziz,
now on a three-nation tour of SAARC capitals, is expected
to focus mainly on issues of South Asian grouping ahead
of its summit in January, during his stay in Dhaka. Dhaka
is hosting the next summit of the seven-nation South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation on January 9-11, 2005.
The Pakistan prime minister is also expected to have discussion
on wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues,
according to official sources. The Pakistan prime minister
had meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Khaleda Zia
late in the afternoon. Aziz is accompanied by a 61-member
deligation from Pakistan, including ministers, lawmakers,
senior officials and members of the business community.
