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UP assembly polls before May 14

      Agra: Uttar Pradesh assembly elections would be held before May 14, 2007. This was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy here today. Speaking to reporters, Gopalaswamy said that after the delimitation exercise comes to conclusion by March 31, the elections to the assembly seats would be completed by May 14. However, the Chief Election Commission refused to divulge the names of the other states that would be going to polls along with UP. The other states that could go to polls along with UP are Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur.

Meerut college girls ransack VC's bungalow (Top)

      Meerut: The girl students of Ismail College here entered the Vice Chancellor's bungalow on Wednesday and indulged in violence damaging many things. According to Monica Sharma, vice president of the Students' Union, Ismail College, they wanted to discuss with the Vice Chancellor certain issues and solve the problem faced by the students. But the VC refused to take any lead and this angered them. "When we came to the Vice-Chancellor's bungalow to talk we were told to meet him at the university. We went to the university and there the staff said that he is at home. We shuttled several times from his university chamber to his house and from his house to the university. But he was not ready to talk," said Monica Sharma. She added: "We got to know that he is at his home and then we climbed through the gate and entered his house and damage the things. The examination papers which are lost from the college are the responsibility of the college and why should we give the exam again and waste a year". Later, the police arrested the girls who have ransacked the VC's bungalow and their parents have also been called. "The Ismail College girls have violently entered the Vice- Chancellor's house and broken things inside the house, which is not correct and action will be taken against them," said Sanjeev Vajpayee, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Meerut. The DSP also said that investigations are on to ascertain the cause of the violence and find out how forcible entry into the Vice Chancellor's residence was facilitated and possible role of outsiders in abetting the students. Ever since the Meerut University resolved to conduct re- examination of degree examinations due to theft and loss of answer sheets, the students' community has been a disturbed lot.

Eight firemen injured in Delhi factory fire (Top)

      New Delhi: At least eight firemen were injured when a building collapsed due to a major fire at a foam factory here on Wednesday. The fire broke out at a factory located in the Okhla industrial area on the southern part of the national capital, which houses a large number of swanky commercial and corporate offices. Devender Singh, a factory worker who was inside the building when the fire broke out said one person remained to be traced. Around 30 fire tenders were pressed into service to control the blazing inferno. However, as fire workers struggled to keep the fire under control, the three-storied building gave in, collapsing and injuring several firemen.

Naxal-affected states to get air support (Top)

      New Delhi: Considering the seriousness of the threat posed by Naxalism, the Centre on Wednesday decided to provide air support to the seven worst Naxal-affected states to curb the menace. Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Coordination Centre of Naxalism, Home Secretary V K Duggal said: "In principle, we have decided to give air support to the most affected states primarily not for operation purposes... it is primarily for evacuation and dropping of food". However, Duggal added that helicopters would be given to the needy states depending on availability with the Home Ministry. In addition, the Union Home Ministry will also deploy one more battalion of forces trained in jungle warfare for Chhattisgarh. "One battalion from Mizoram will join them within a week. The personnel of the new battalion are trained in jungle warfare," he said. The Coordination meeting of representatives have also decided to fine tune the entire operation against Naxalism. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretaries and the Director General of Police of the affected states and chaired by Duggal. The meet also called for greater coordination between the different state and Centre agencies to tackle the menace of naxalism. Different security agencies and the concerned States were asked to submit a report on the ground situation. Considering the threat posed by naxals on the railway networks, the meeting also called for coordination among Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and state police to strengthen security, safety and protection of trains. It was also decided that naxalism should not be seen as a security concern alone and that the government would continue to help in the developmental works in the region. Fortification of the police station was also decided as the officials agreed that the naxalites were getting their weapons by looting police stations. The influence of naxalism has been growing all over the country as out of the total of 12,476 police stations, naxal violence was reported from 509 police stations in 11 states last year. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh are some of the states affected by Naxalite violence.

Pistol seized from ex-minister at airport (Top)

      Bangalore: A pistol was seized from former Civil Aviation Minister C M Ibrahim at the Chennai airport before he boarded a flight to Bangalore on Tuesday evening. Talking to reporters here today, Ibrahim said he had forgotten to put the licensed weapon with other baggage and instead carried it in his brief case. "I was given a weapon for my protection when I am outside the state. It's a licensed weapon. Inside the state, they (authorities) have given me the security. But unfortunately, yesterday I went by train but while coming back, I opted for flight. The weapon should have been handed over to the unaccompanied baggage. Unfortunately, I had forgotten and it was in the briefcase," he said. Praising the security personnel for doing a good job by detecting the pistol, the former Minister said: "I appreciate the security force. They detected it and I showed them the licence. They were very satisfied and today morning I showed them the original licence. They are sending back the weapon". Ibrahim had come to the Chennai airport to board a Kingfisher Airlines flight to Bangalore. Though his weapon was seized, he was allowed to proceed. C M Ibrahim was the Civil Aviation Minister in the H D Deve Gowda Ministry.

Vaiko tells Centre to desist supporting Colombo (Top)

       New Delhi: Tamil leader and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko today cautioned New Delhi against supporting the Sri Lankan government's "genocidal attack on Tamils". Vaiko led a group of protestors to the Sri Lankan High Commission here to condemn the killing of Tamils in conflict between Sri Lankan army and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Tamil leader, whose party is an ally of Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, wants India to pressurise the Sri Lankan government to resume the peace talks with LTTE. Vaiko, known for his open support to the Tamil Tigers, was arrested and jailed in 2001 by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha for making inflammatory speeches supporting the LTTE under a controversial anti-terrorist law-- Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).

ABVP men surrender in professor murder (Top)

      Ujjain (MP): District leaders of BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharti Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) today surrendered before the police over the incident of the alleged murder of a college professor by a group of students who had beaten the professor to death. On Aug 26, Professor Sabharwal was brought dead to a hospital after students belonging to ABVP allegedly beat him up while he was trying to convince the students of the postponement of the college union election. ABVP District President Shashi Ranjan Singh Akela and Organising Secretary Vimal Tomar surrendered hours after a college staff member gave a detailed account of the horrendous incident. Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh termed the murder as accident. Singh said that Professor Sabharwal's death was an accident and not a murder. Meanwhile, the police on late Tuesday night arrested 22 people, mostly from Congress affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) over alleged incident of blackening the face of another college professor, Prof. ML Nath.

Teacher throws acid on students  (Top)
by Tahir Nadeem Khan

      Kandni/Bhadarwah: In a bizarre incident, a Rehbar-e Taleem teacher at the Nagbatna Kuntwara High School, which comes under Kishtwar tehsil, threw acid on his students. According to the parents of the injured students, Ajaz Ahmad threw the acid in a fit of amusement and experimentation, burning the faces and clothes of seven children, all aged between six and ten. Ahmad was said to be preparing some explosive material in the school laboratory, when all of sudden, he came out of the laboratory and threw the acidic concotion on the students. One of the students, Asgar Ali, has received severe burn injuries on his face and his eyes have also been damaged. While the Doda District administration has ordered inquiry into the matter, Yaseen, another injured boy, alleged that no case has been filed against Ajaz Ahmad. Mohammad. Munawar Lone, who hails from the village of Mallai, and is the father of another victim Muzaffar Hussain, alleged that Ahmad used to beat the children frequently.

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