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Sajjan Kumar docked again for 1984 Sikh riots

        New Delhi: In a major embarrassment for the Congress party, Justice G T Nanavati, who is heading the probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, has opined that senior party MP Sajjan Kumar may have had a major role to play in instigating that incident which broke out immediately after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Final arguments before the commission are now over, and Justice Nanavati says he will submit the report by November. Anwar Kaur, who claimed that the former led a mob that killed her husband on November 1, 1984, lodged the main case against Sajjan Kumar. In December 1994, the CBI, which probed the case, chargesheeted Kumar and 12 others. Exactly eight years later, on December 23, 2002, a Delhi court acquitted Kumar and other accused for lack of evidence. In July 2003, the CBI filed an appeal against the acquittal in the Delhi High Court, which is still being heard.

SJM to hold rally to protest mounting inflation  (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Swadeshi Jagran Manch has warned that it will launch a nation-wide stir if the Manmohan Singh Government does not take steps to rein in the spiralling inflation. In a demonstration held here, SJM leaders described the government as being in a frozen mindset, and demanded that it take swift remedial action. "The constant rise in inflation rate which now stands at more than eight per cent would have dangerous repercussions on the poor and middle class people of the country. So, we want the government to come out of its frozen mindset and take some swift action to curb inflation," said SJM co-ordinator Murlidhar Rao.

Soren not released despite bail grant (Go To Top)

          Dumka (Jharkhand): Former Union Coal and Mines Minister Shibu Soren was not released from judicial custody on Tuesday as he failed to give his passport number to a Giridih court as demanded. At Dumka, Sibu Soren was produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate Janardan Singh, who after hearing the petition, granted bail to Soren on a personal bond of Rs.5,000. The Giridh court demanded Soren's passport number, which he was unable to give. His passport is in the custody of the CBI. The JMM chief is to be produced again in Giridih on September 9, according to the Superintendent of the camp jail here, A Sinha. Soren is an accused in the Chirrudih massacre case of 1975 and Pirtand murder case of 1974. The Chirrudih murder case is being tried in Jamtara and the Pirtand murder case in Giridih. Tomorrow Soren would be produced in a Godda court in connection with another case relating to beating up of the Block Development Officer. September 13 is the scheduled date for his production in the Tis Hazari Court, Delhi in connection with a murder case.

13 killed, 14 injured in bus mishap in Assam (Go To Top)

         Nalbari (Assam): At least thirteen bus passengers were killed and 14 injured when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a roadside pond in Assam's Nalbari district today, police said. Four more bodies were recovered from the bus still submerged in the pond while an injured passenger died on way to the Nalbari Civil Hospital. The speeding bus, carrying 50 passengers, was on its way from Manikpur in Bongaigaon district to Guwahati when it rammed into an oil tanker and fell into a roadside pond at Kadamatala near Tihu on National Highway 31. Search operation was on full swing to rescue the remaining 16 passengers who are trapped inside the bus. Senior police and civil officials have rushed to the spot and were supervising the rescue operations.

Hindus celebrate Janmashtami (Go To Top)

          Mathura: Temples in Mathura, the mythological birthplace of Lord Krishna, on Tuesday began celebrations to mark Janmashtami, the day of his birth. Millions of devotees thronged the beautifully illuminated and decorated edifices to offer their prayers to the lord. A number of processions were also taken out on the occasion and special ballets popularly known as Raas Leela, depicting the love stories of Lord Krishna, were staged across the city. "It is our cultural heritage which says that our gods, ancestors have done this sort of Leela. The people are made aware of our culture and heritage through the Raas Leela (ballet)," said a performer. Hindus are keeping a daylong fast that they will break at the stroke of midnight, the time of Krishna's birth. "I liked it very much here and I am glad to be here," said Bansiwala, who has been visiting the city for past 30 years.

         According to legend, Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver and one of the trinities of the Hindu pantheon. The other two being Lord Brahma, the Creator and Lord Shiva, the Destroyer. Lord Vishnu is believed to have taken birth as Krishna to destroy the evil king of Mathura, Kansa. His parents, imprisoned by Kansa, had to smuggle out the child born at midnight to save him. Vasudev, Krishna's father, carried the newborn child in a reed basket and left him in the care of another couple at Gokul away from Mathura. Thus Janmashtami is celebrated on two consecutive days, the first is the day when Krishna was actually born, and the second is when he reached Gokul. Some parts of northern India are also celebrating Janmashtami on Wednesday.

Lawyers' strike continues in UP (Go To Top)

         Lucknow: Lawyers in Uttar Pradesh have decided to continue their strike till their fellow practitioners detained after last week's clashes with police are released. More than a dozen lawyers were injured in clashes with police here on Friday after lawyers started an agitation following a road accident involving the car of a bar council office-bearer. The Bar Council said the cases against them must be withdrawn and those injured in last Friday's clashes be duly compensated. "We are bound to the Bar Council of India, they are our parent party. Though they have asked us to sit on a two-hour strike, we would rather strike for the whole day," said V. P. Singh, the vice president of Awadh Bar Association. Meanwhile, the UP Bar Council will observe September 8 as "solidarity day", and in this regard, has asked the lawyers to stay out of court on that day. The state government has constituted a judicial inquiry into Friday's clashes.