Renowned writer Mulk Raj Anand passes
away
Pune:
Well-known English litterateur Mulk Raj Anand passed
away in Pune this morning, his family sources said. He was
99 and is survived by his wife and a daughter. The renowned
writer was admitted to Jehangir Hospital on September 17,
hospital sources said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called up
and spoke to Anand's family members, the litterateur's caretaker
Ram Gohar said. Anand had been for long residing at Lonawala-Khandala
in Pune district.
Lata
Mangeshkar turns 75
Mumbai:
Actresses come and go, some new faces replace the old
ones, but there is one melodious voice that stands as sweet
today as it was in the 1940s. That is the voice of the eternal
nightingale Lata Mangeshkar. The melody queen, who has lent
her voice to almost all great actresses of the Bollywood
from Meena Kumari to Aishwarya Rai turned 75 today. Born
in 1929 in a Marathi family hailing from Indore, the daughter
of a classical singer Dinnanth Mangeshkar, Lata, was groomed
by Ustad Aman Ali, Ustad Amanath Khan and P.L. Tulsidas
Sharma. Called by most of the people as "didi", she was
awarded the Padmabhushan way back in 1969 and the Dadasaheb
Phalke in 1989. She has sung almost all kinds of songs including
ghazals, bhajans and pop. The Guinness Book of Records has
listed her as the most recorded artist in the world with
not less than 30,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs
recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987.
Haryana
strongman to take on `Maratha' Pawar for BCCI chief post
(Go
To Top)
Kolkata:
Haryana Cricket Association secretary Ranbir Singh Mahendra
today formally declared his candidature for the post of
BCCI president against Mumbai Cricket Association and Union
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. "I will be contesting
the post of president and I am quite hopeful of my victory,"
Mahendra said. With Mahendra in the fray, a high voltage
contest is in the waiting on Wednesday. Indirectly opposing
Pawar's bid to grab the post, Mahendra said that politicians
should not take over the sports bodies. "There should not
be any involvement of politicians in cricket," he said.
Mahendra is backed by the powerful lobby of the outgoing
president Jagmohan Dalmiya. The Dalmiya group would be putting
up a full panel with current secretary SK Nair seeking re-election
to the post, while Brijesh Patel and Jyoti Bajpai would
contest joint secretary and treasurer's post respectively.
On the other hand, Pawar is backed by Dalmiya's rivals in
the board - IS Bindra of Punjab and Raj Singh Dungarpur
of the Cricket Club of India (CCI). Dungarpur has already
declared that Pawar would win the contest comfortably bagging
18 of the total 31 votes.
Montek
to meet PM to discuss foreign experts issue (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek
Singh Ahluwalia today said that he would meet Prime Minister
Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue of appointment of
foreign experts in the Commission. Earlier in the day Montek
had met Commission members to discuss the issue. "I have
discussed with the members of the Commission and will meet
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a day or two to resolve
the issue," he told reporters after a meeting with Commission
members. On Montek's advice, the Prime Minister had inducted
"foreign" experts from World Bank, ADB and McKinsey into
the Commission. The Leftists, especially the CPI-M, have
been opposing the move.
VHP
slams Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The VHP today said that it feared that the UPA
government's new law - Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act - which is an amended version of POTA, would be used
to victimise them. The rightist body said that it would
oppose it tooth and nail. The body also slammed the move
saying that statements by top UPA ministers indicated an
ulterior motive behind the new Act. "It is an indirect way
of imposing dictatorship on the country. We will oppose
it...we will oppose it across the length and breadth of
the nation," VHP vice president Giriraj Kishore told reporters
in the Capital. Kishore added that the group would question
the legality of such a law and seek legal help on the matter.
"We did not want this, we are forced to agitate. We will
form cells at all our offices and also take legal help,"
he said.
BJP-SS
joint manifesto too excludes Vidharbha (Go
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Mumbai:
The BJP and the Shiv Sena today released their joint
manifesto for the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.
Like Congress' manifesto, it also didn't promise forming
Visharbha a separate state. The BJP and the Shiv Sena are
jointly contesting the 288-member Assembly elections to
be held on October 13. On the occasion, BJP leader Pramod
Mahajan, in-charge of the state, said the crucial issue
of a separate statehood for the Vidharba region would not
be included in the manifesto. "Everybody knows that stand
of Shiv Sena-BJP advocates a unified Maharashtra. We are
not in favour of a separate Vidharbha region. This being
a joint manifesto by the Shiv Sena and BJP there is no mention
of the Vidharbha as of now," Mahajan told reporters in Mumbai.
The two parties also promised free power to farmers, waiver
of agricultural loans, reservation in jobs and education
for women. "We have promised to rehabilitate the four million
slum dwellers. ŠThough we were not successful earlier but
we will try to fulfill it now," Mahajan said.
Revision
in Jammu and Kashmir electoral rolls (Go
To Top)
Srinagar:
:The electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir are being
revised after 16 long years. Election Commissioner B B Tandon
is on a two day visit here to take stock of the revision
and preparations for the assembly by elections in the state.
The last intensive revision in the voter list in Jammu and
Kashmir was way back in 1988. B B Tandon met the Deputy
Commissioners to take stock of the revision exercise which
will be complete by November 2004. Tandon also inspected
the preparations for the assembly by-polls in the state
and said no one will be forced to vote. "We will ensure
that the voters are able to come freely to polls. Nobody
will be allowed to obstruct and secondly nobody is forced
to vote. I have given clear instructions to security forces,
it is none of their business to force anybody to come and
vote. We will create confidence among the people and those
who want to exercise their fundamental rights, should be
allowed," said Tandon. He met the Chief Secretary and the
Director General of Police apart from representatives of
various political parties. Four assembly seats in the state
are going for bypolls on the 13th of next month. Chief Minister
Mufti Mohammad Syed is a candidate from Pahalgam assembly
seat.
SGPC
team to visit Pak to probe Nankana attack (Go
To Top)
Amritsar:
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) has
decided to send a high powered team to Pakistan to inquire
in to the reports of attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, Sikhs
shops and establishments in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, by
an angry mob. The team will visit Nankana Sahib and would
submit its report to the president, SGPC. On the other hand
in their press release Pakistan Singh Gurdwara Parbhandhak
committee claimed that the situation in Nankana Sahib is
perfectly calm and quite and there is no tension in the
area. SGPC' high power team includes Dr. Rattan Singh Ajnala
M.P., Gurpal Singh Gora, Vice President SGPC, Sukhdev Singh
Bhaur the SGPC general Sectary, Surinder Singh Thekedar
SGPC member and Dilmegh Singh Secretary SGPC.
However
Dilmegh Singh Secretary SGPC disclosed that Bibi Jagir Kaur
the president SGPC would call upon Pakistani high commissioner
at New Delhi to lodge strong protest against this incident
and to impress upon Pakistan authorities to ensure safety
and protection of their shrines. In their press release
the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee said that
"Government of Pakistan is making all out efforts for the
betterment of Sikh community and develop Nankana Sahib with
all modern facilities including roads, educational institution
etc. In this context Punjab Government had proposed that
Boys Degree College, Nankana Sahib may be shifted to new
place and utilize the existing place for construction of
accommodation for the Sikh yatrees. " "However, some miscreants
told the students through disinformation that College is
being closed. As a result, some students of the College
took out a procession and pelted stones in the Bazar of
Nankana Sahib and few houses" said the release adding that
the administrative authorities and local population immediately
initiated action and the students were dispersed. No body
was injured in the incident. Notably, on the morning of
September 25, few local citizens and students of Government
Guru Nanak Dev Degree College attacked the Nankana Sahib
in protest against a committees recommendation that the
Punjab government return the Government Guru Nanak Degree
ŠCollege building to the Nankana Sahib trust to accommodate
Sikh pilgrims.
Lalu
vows to end freight racket (Go
To Top)
Patna:
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today expressed strong
resolve to end the racket involved in illegally transporting
excess coal and iron ore in goods trains and paying less
freight fare and charged that some BJP leaders were involved
in the racket. Lalu said that 2200 tonnes of excess loading
of coal and iron ore were detected in goods trains under
different zones during a country-wide check which was continuing
since yesterday. "According to the information received,
overloading weighing more than 2200 metric ton of freight
has been reported from across various trains," Lalu said.
A penalty of three times more than the normal freight charge
was imposed on the defaulters, Prasad told reporters. The
racket in illegal transportation of coal and iron ore, vital
for infrastructure development, was being run in an organised
manner under the patronage of some politicians and railway
employees, Prasad alleged adding he had information that
a few top BJP leaders were associated with a company 'Samrudha
Overseas Pvt Ltd', that was allegedly involved in the racket.
Refusing to disclose names of the saffron party leaders
allegedly associated with the company, Prasad said he has
sought more details and would soon unmask them, many of
whom were Ministers previously.
President
Musharraf arrives Rome on three-day state visit (Go
To Top)
Rome:
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, who arrived
here on a three-day state visit of Italy, was warmly welcomed
at the airport by the representative of Pope John Paul and
senior Italian officials. Musharraf would be meeting president,
prime minister and other leaders of Italy to exchange views
on bilateral ties including some crucial matters. Musharraf,
visiting Italy on the invitation of Italian President, is
reported to be discussing here with Italian leaders matters
relating to global war against terrorism, Pak-India relations,
rebuilding of Afghanistan, Iraq situation and expansion
of United Nations. Agreements regarding combating smuggling
and promotion of tourism would also be inked during this
visit. President Pervez Musharraf would also be attending
here a conference on Trade and Investment between India
and Pakistan besides meeting the leading Italian traders
and importers of Pakistani products. President Musharraf
would call on Pope John Paul in Vatican and meet Pakistani
community during his stay in Italy.
Pak
journos to visit Kashmir from October 3 (Go
To Top)
Srinagar:
A team of 18 Pakistani journalists will visit the Indian
side of Kashmir from October 3 for five days. This will
be their first visit to the area since 1948, when the dispute
over Kashmir first surfaced. The Daily Times quoted Ved
Bhasin, the editor of the Kashmir Times Group, as saying
that the Pakistani newsmen would meet top government officials,
separatist leaders, students and other civilian groups.
