Sonia quits trusts ahead of polls

      New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today resigned as the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and also from the trusteeship of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Jalianwala Bagh Memorial Trusts. Gandhi's resignation follows her announcement to quit the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council (NAC) on March 23. Saturday's decision has been taken to ward off possible legal problems in relation to contesting the Rae Bareli by-polls. Gandhi is also the chairperson of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, the president of the Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital Society, the patron of Nehru Trust for Cambridge University and a member of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society. She is also a patron of the Round Square (International Group of Schools) UK. The office of profit controversy had led Sonia to resign from Parliament and the NAC after the opposition attacked her for enjoying the perks going with job. The Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency polls will take place on May 8.

RSS-backed eight Rath Yatras (Go To Top)

      Bhubaneshwar: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) now attracts the notice of people and the political leaders in Orissa, as the eight Rath Yatras backed by the party begin today. The eight chariots will converge at Chakapad in Kandhamal district. Dedicated to eight Goddesses, the chariots will carry 'sacred water and soil' from most of the villages of the State. The RSS on reaching the spot (Chakapad) will organise a congregation, similar to the Sabri Kumbh oragnised in Gujarat's Dang district in February. The Sabri Kumbh was organised by the Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad at Shabri Dham near Jarsol in Dang district. The district witnessed attacks on the Christian tribal population. Nearly 10 percent of the population of the area had Christian tribesmen and the occasion aimed at discouraging the others from getting converted to Christianity. Besides Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Ashok Singhal, RSS Chief K Sudarshan will also be present at the gathering in Chakapad. Others leaders include Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) president Jagdev Oram and many others Sangh leaders will participate in the three-day programme starting from April 8 to 10. The occasion is also ground prepared by the Sangh Parivar to obstruct the conversion drive targeting Christians. RSS Prant Pracharak simanchal Khatua said that they had planned to organise seven yagnas and a meeting to be attended by 30,000 tribesmen from the State. Khatua said that the tribesmen were being oppressed by anti- national forces. The meeting would discuss different aspects of this problem. It is to be noted that the RSS has launched its yatras at the time coinciding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh's 'Bharat Suraksha Yatra'. The yatra was launched by Singh on April 6.

Bismillah to perform at India Gate (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Shehnai maestro and Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan has been granted one of his last two wishes, that of performing under Delhi's famous India Gate, a memorial to British and Indian soldiers who died during the two World Wars. Bismillah Khan will perform in the month of July. "B i s m i l l a h : T h e B e g i n n i n g," a movement launched by a Delhi-based journalist couple Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha, has also arranged for the shehnai maestro to perform before an audience in Dharbanga in Bihar next month. Conferred with all the four National awards - Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna - Ustad Bismillah Khan, who lives in a narrow lane of Sarai Harha in temple town Varanasi had on March 25 expressed his wish to perform with his shehnai at Darbhanga and at India Gate. Neena Jha, who runs a all women magazine - The Indraprastha NCR - is a teacher in St. Thomas School, Indirapuram (Ghaziabad), while her husband, Shivnath, works with Sahara Times as a Special Correspondent.

7 injured in Chhattisgarh blast (Go To Top)

     Raipur: Seven people, including two policemen were injured in a bomb blast allegedly triggered by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh today. According to the officials, the rebels had planted a tiffin bomb under a body of a man allegedly killed by them. Acting on information about a body lying in a village in Bhairamgarh, the police along with villagers reached the spot and was examining the body when the bomb blew off. OP Rathore, Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh, condemning the act said that such an insult to a human body is unacceptable and stringent actions will be taken once the guilty are nabbed. "To place a bomb beneath a dead body is condemnable and inhuman. Two policemen and five villagers were injured in the incident. It is against any human act," said Rathore. At least 157 people had been killed in Maoist-related violence this year, up from 114 in the first quarter of 2005, driven by a jump in civilian deaths in Chhattisgarh.

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