Congress set to
retain power in Arunachal
Itanagar:
The Congress today looked to appear set to retaining
power in Arunachal Pradesh after winning 19 of the 35 seats
results for which were declared with main challenger BJP
left way behind in the race. With counting of votes in 35
of the total of 60 seats completed, BJP had to be content
with only six seats. Independents, most of whom were the
Congress rebel candidates, emerged as the largest group
after Congress with eight of them emerging victorious. One
seat each was won by Arunachal Congress and Nationalist
Congress Party. The counting for 45 seats were taken up
on Sunday morning in the first phases while the counting
for 12 seats would be taken up in the second phase on Monday.
Congress has already won three seats unopposed. The counting
for three seats were taken up only in the afternoon because
polling parties from the assembly segments could not return
in time at the counting centre, state Chief Electoral Officer
M K Parida said. Among the winners for Congress was the
chief of Arunachal Pradesh Congress and strong chief ministerial
candidate Mukut Mithi who won from Roing seat defeating
BJP candidate Laeta Umbrey. Other important winners for
Congress were Omak Apang, son of outgoing chief minister
Gegong Apang, who defeated former union minister T Tapak
of BJP. Former Congress MP Jarbom Gamlin also romped home
defeating former party colleague and state Power Minister
Lijum Ronya (Independent), ending his winning streak in
several elections.
Muslim
board to propose amendment in triple `talaq' (Go
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Lucknow:
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has
decided to take up a campaign to stop Mulim men from divorcing
their wives by simply saying "talaq" three times. The Board
recently met in Lucknow and decided to prescribe a model
marriage decree to prevent the "triple talaq" that has drawn
criticism from women groups and Hindu groups that call for
the use of common civil laws. "We are going to propose a
model nikahnama (marriage law) in Calicut session. And,
in this model `nikhanama' there will be guidlines for both
the husband and wife. Like for the increase of money given
to the girl at marriage etc," AIMPLB general secretary and
spokesman Abdul Rehman Qureshi told reporters after the
meeting. The model nikahnama would come up for discussion
at the annual session of the AIMPLB slated to be held at
Calicut in southern Kerala from December 26. The board said
that religiouscourts run by qazis, or community judges,
could provide a way out for couples involved in disputes.
Muslim divorces have been a controversial issue in India.
A case in the mid-1980s involving Shah Bano, who took her
rejected demand for alimony to the Supreme Court, triggered
debate across India on whether the court had jurisdiction
over Muslim personal laws. The court's verdict upholding
her right to alimony was later reversed by a law pushed
through by the government of the day, run by the Congress
party, setting off protests by opposition Hindu nationalists,
who gained in popularity. Such kinds of protests raised
awareness in the community of the need to regulate its practices,
criticised by Hindu right- wingers as more stringent than
some Islamic nations.
New
force to be raised in J-K, NE to combat terror (Go
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New
Delhi: The Centre has decided to raise a 50,000-strong
police force within the next two years to battle militancy
in Jammu and Kashmir, the seven northeastern states, and
the naxalite-infected states like Andhra. Disclosing this
to a news agency, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said
that these forces would be under the direct command of the
respective state police. He said that the Centre will grant
a fund of Rs 13 crore for each battalion. Although the prime
motive for the setting up of the force is to tackle insurgency
and militancy in the trouble prone states, it would be organised
in a way to facilitate its deployment wherever required.
Flood
situation in Assam worsens, 70 dead (Go
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New
Delhi: The flood situation in Assam continued to worsen
with the recovery of six more bodies in the state's Goalpara
district today taking the total number of dead to 70. NGO
officials said that the toll could increase further with
the discovery of more bodies. Earlier several hundred people
had been reported missing from the more than 100 villages
of the district. Many bodies were recovered from rooftops
and trees submerged or uprooted by the floodwaters. The
flash floods which took place due to heavy rainfall in neighbouring
Meghalaya have killed several people, cattle and destroyed
crops worth lakhs of rupees besides disrupting train and
other services.
Salman
Khurshid says no watertight solution for Kashmir (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: A senior ruling Congress party leader and former
diplomat Salman Khursheed today said that India and Pakistan
must accept that their decades-old dispute over Kashmir
cannot be an "all or nothing" affair. The nuclear-armed
neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the
Himalayan region. While India claims all of Kashmir, Pakistan
has been seeking the implementation of a U.N. resolution
for a plebiscite to decide whether the Muslim-majority territory
should be merged with mostly Hindu India or folded into
Islamic istan. The hostile neighbours have however in recent
month greatly softened rhetoric finding what they term as
a "mutual trust and cooperation". The peace moves got the
biggest impetus last month after the meeting between Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's President Pervez
Musharraf. Analysts say the meeting held on the sidelines
of the U.N General Assembly was a milestone in carrying
forward the peace process.
"The
bottom line is that one day India and Pakistan have to accept
the reality that it will not be an all or nothing affair.
Now if it is nothing or all affair, do we have models to
work upon? We have models. We only have to look what models
have worked. Models have worked in Vietnam, models have
worked in Palestine, models have worked in re-unification
of Berlin and models have worked in various parts of Africa.
But quite often, the battle is more of territory than for
idealogy or something like definitional conflicts that we
have followed here," Khursheed said in his address to a
media conference being held under the aegis of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in New
Delhi. "The younger generation has more curiosity rather
than hatred for each other. And that there is a willingness,
enough openness, to allow for the fact that we can not only
live together and we can also prosper together. I think
that is something what we need to build upon. The greater
bridges of understanding can be promoted among the younger
generation," said Najimuddin A Shaikh, a Pakistani delegate.
Both nations have been pressing for greater economic, cultural
and people-to-people contact but hit a deadlock over Islamabad's
insistence that progress in other areas would come automatically
if the "core issue" of Kashmir was resolved.
Guru
Ramdas birthday celebrated (Go
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Amritsar:
Sikh devotees on Saturday celebrated the 471st birth
anniversary of their fourth religious leader Guru Ram Dass
in northern Amritsar city. The Golden temple, also celebrating
the 400th year of compilation of the Sikh holy book Guru
Granth Sahib, was illuminated on the occasion. Guru Ram
Dass was also the founder of the holy city. A huge congregation
was held in the Harmandir Sahib under the auspices of Sikh
apex body Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC).
Hundreds and thousands of devotees paid their obeisance
in the shrine and also took a dip in the holy pond. Special
fireworks were also held to mark the anniversary. Parkash
Singh, a devotee, said he visits the shrine every year with
his family to be a part of the celebrations. "Me and my
family have come here only to see the celebrations of Prakash
Utsav. We are feeling very nice here. The entire world is
happy today." Early morning a religious procession, led
by the "panj piaras" (five beloved) was also taken out to
mark the event. The Sikh holy book was carried in a golden
palanquinn which passed through the main city before concluding
at the shrine in the evening.
Ex-Iraqi
deputy premier is alive, claims US (Go
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Baghdad:
The US military has claimed that it had "absolute confirmation"
that former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz was still
alive. "I can absolutely confirm that he is still alive,"
The Dawn quoted Lt Col Barry Johnson, spokesman for detainee
operations in Iraq, as saying. Johnson was reportedly clarifying
on media reports that Aziz had died in US custody. "The
reports are untrue. There is no change to his status," he
said. "Tareq Aziz is alive and well," Johnson reportedly
said.
Opposition
strike hits Dhaka (Go
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Dhaka:
Shops were shut in Bangladesh as most vehicles stayed
off the roads in a daylong strike called by opposition parties
to demand the resignation of the government. Security was
tight as riot police and special forces fanned out to deter
violence. Bangladesh is reeling from floods that have inundated
large areas of the country, leaving thousands of families
to battle with hunger and disease. "The country has not
failed but the government has failed, the whole alliance
has failed because of their inefficiency, because of their
non governance, because of their lack of sense of responsibility
and because of their greed to grab money, wealth and power,"
Motia Chowdhury, former minister and leader of the opposition
Awami League party that called the strike along with its
allies, said. The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party has
refused to step down even a day before its five-year term
ends in October 2006. Analysts said the League's campaign
was unlikely to drive Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia from
power as she controlled a two- thirds majority in the 300-member
parliament and has strong support in the countryside. Sunday
is a working day in Muslim- majority Bangladesh. The Awami
League and its allies are using the strike, one of several
after party chief Sheikh Hasina escaped a grenade attack
at a rally on Aug. 21, to condemn that attack and focus
on what they say is growing lawlessness. The Awami League
will launch a sustained campaign to oust the "corrupt, inefficient
and repressive government" in mid-November, following the
Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, senior leaders said.
Fine
slapped on Sehwag, will forgo 65 pc of match fee (Go
To Top)
Bangalore:
ICC match referee Ranjan Madhugale today imposed a fine
on Indian opener Virender Sehwag whereby the latter will
have to forego 65 percent of his match fee for "showing
dissent to umpire" after being wrongly adjudged LBW in the
second innings against Australia. TV replays had clearly
shown that the ball had hit Sehwag's bat before hitting
his pads. But, umpire Billy Bowden wrongly adjudged him
trapped LBW. Before returning to the pavilion at duck, Sehwag
had exchanged words with Bowden. Sehwag pleaded guilty at
a disciplinary hearing before ICC match referee. In a statement
Madugalle said that Sehwag's good track record was taken
into account before imposing the fine, otherwise he could
have been banned for one Test under the ICC's code of conduct.
Australia
wrap up first Test (Go
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Bangalore:
Australia were made to sweat a little bit by the defiant
Indian tailenders before wrapping up the first cricket Test
with a resounding 217-run victory and take a 1-0 lead in
the four-match series here today. Needing just four wickets
on the final day's play, the visitors were made to wait
for nearly three hours before breaking the dogged late order
resistance to dismiss India for 239 and inflict one of the
heaviest Test defeats on the hosts in their own backyard.
Resuming at the overnight score of 105 for six, the Indian
tailenders Irfan Pathan (55) and Harbhajan Singh (42) managed
to delay the inevitable by batting with a determination
not shown by their famed top order batsmen.
Indians
equally better, says Gilchrist (Go
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Bangalore:
Ausses captain Adam Gilchrist today said there is not
a huge gap between the two teams and that the Indian side
can perform much better. The tourists were made to work
until mid-afternoon before finally bowling India out for
239 on the final day of first test match in the four match
series. "I wouldn't say this was an easy test win. I think
we played really well and had to do everthing we planned
for really well. It is a convincing win, 200 runs but in
these conditions, I think those sort of results can come
about easier than elsewhere and it doesn't neccesarily mean
that there is a huge gap between the teams. Just because
it look like a crushing win, it doesn't mean there is a
huge gap. We will expect India to come back, we've been
in this position before. But I think were got a little bit
of a different confidence in the team as opposed to three
years ago where we certainly did not know what it was like
to lose a test match at this stage," Adam Gilchrist, Australian
cricket team captain, said. The Indian lower order batsmen
fought a wane battle before succumbing to a 217-run defeat
in the first test against Australia on Sunday (October 10)
in southern Bangalore city. Rahul Dravid provided a resolute
60 to nurse the hosts on from 105-6 overnight, adding just
32 runs in 27 overs with Irfan Pathan who made a fighting
55 but that could not save the sinking Indian team.
"I
think we can come back. There are still three test matches
to go,there is still a lot of cricket to be left in the
series. I understand that some of the guys are not getting
runs but it's a matter of one knock.There have been too
many starts and not converted into big scores. But I think
the class of the players and their records are good enough
to give them confidence to convert those starts to big hundreds,"
Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricket team captain, said. Harbhajan
Singh (42) lit the fireworks in a ninth wicket stand of
89 in 19 overs. Set 457 for victory and 105-6 overnight,
India's only chance of avoiding defeat was to bat all day.
Pathan remained on seven for the first 50 minutes of the
morning, happy to block the pace bowlers while Dravid took
boundaries from the occasional Warne bad ball. But the bowler
struck back with two wickets, switching ends and immediately
pinning Dravid back lbw then forcing Anil Kumble to play
on. When the pressure released a bit, India's tail decided
to have fun and Harbhajan had the most when he lofted Warne
into the stand at deep midwicket and applauded taking his
spin rival into three figures. Pathan celebrated his maiden
Test half- century, which included sixes off Warne and Darren
Lehmann.
