Advani, Rajnath on national integration yatra
by Pankaj Yadav

     New Delhi: Giving a historical twist to the politics of the BJP, senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday that BJP president Rajnath Singh and his predecessor in the post, LK Advani, would embark on their proposed `National Integration Yatra' from April 6. Briefing reporters at the party headquarters this afternoon, Naidu said that it was decided to divide the yatra into two phases, one of which would be led by Singh and the other by Advani. Naidu said that the selection of April 6 as the yatra launch date was considered because it was both Ram Naumi and the BJP Foundation Day. The yatra would end on May 10, the 149th anniversary of the 1857 Mutiny, Naidu added. He said that Advani's 26-day yatra would cover 10 states spread over 5,800 kilometres. Advani, Naidu said would start his yatra from Gujarat, his home constituency and pass through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. Rajnath Singh, on the other hand, would undertake a 24-day yatra, which would commence from Orissa, and would cover 12 states spread over 5,000 kilometres and move through Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. Naidu also said that it has been decided that the yatra will not pass through Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Pondicherry, the areas going to polls in May this year. He said that the movement is being organised with the twin objective of disseminating information regarding "the divisive politics of the UPA Government and to generate public awareness on this score". Simultaneously, an effort would be made to seek the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) as also a halt to the head counting process in the Indian Army. Naidu said that he would be the overall in charge of the yatra. Senior BJP leaders Vijay Goel and Ananth Kumar would look after the preparations of the yatra for Rajnath Singh and Advani, respectively. Naidu said that Advani would take two days out of his yatra to visit West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry for poll-related campaigning.

     Meanwhile, some BJP sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that differences had cropped up between Singh and Advani while drawing up the plan and the route for the yatra. They said that Advani had wanted Singh to concentrate his yatra in the southern states, while he (Advani) moved through the North. Singh rejected this suggestion, saying that as he was from Uttar Pradesh, he would have a better chance of generating public awareness on issues raised by the BJP in the north rather than the south.

BJP wins Gujarat municipal polls (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The BJP has recorded a "resounding" victory in the recently held Gujarat municipal polls, by winning 23 councils out of the total 28, BJP vice-president Venkiah Naidu today said while addressing press persons in the Capital. He said that his party won 70 percent seats across the state, while the main Opposition party, the Congress managed to mark a minimal presence in the polls. Naidu said: "The BJP swept the polls by three-fourth majority". "I describe the victory as resounding because the BJP won seats in the areas dominated by minorities, including Muslims. I want to bring into your notice that this is what is happening in Gujarat, despite all the misconceptions spread by the Congress," he told media persons.

Four terrorists shot in Ahmedabad (Go To Top)

      Ahmedabad: Four terrorists, two of whom were identified as Pakistanis, were shot dead in an encounter with police in Vatva on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in the wee hours of Friday. A senior police official confirmed that the remaining two terrorists hailed from Kashmir. The encounter took place at a house in the Bibi Talav locality of Vatva, he added. Crime Branch officer G L Singhal said that on reaching the house in question, the police asked the terrorists to open the door, but instead, the terrorists opened fire on the security posse. In the retaliation that followed, the terrorists were killed.

Curfew clamped in Navi Mumbai (Go To Top)

      Navi Mumbai: Curfew has been imposed in Navi Mumbai area of country's financial hub Mumbai, after three persons were killed and dozens others injured in an alleged police firing after violence erupted over an eve-teasing incident on Thursday. Vijay Kamble, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, said the police had to resort to firing after the situation went out of control following stone pelting in large number. "There were around 80 -100 policemen deployed in the area sensing problem. But the policemen were caught in middle of a huge mob pelting stones at each other and they were going out of control, so we had to resort to firing... But now the situation is returning to normalcy and we have deployed our full force," said Kamble. Mobs had pelted stones at each other, burnt vehicles and damaged homes at the city's new quarters called "Navi" or New Mumbai, about 60 kilometres from the main city, which locals said, had been attacked by villagers from the nearby Ghansholi village. Policemen said a group of drunken city boys had misbehaved with a girl from the village on Wednesday amid celebrations of Holi, enraging the villagers and a scuffle broke out. The Ghansoli residents allege the Navi Mumbai men then attacked their village in the wee hours of the morning, breaking homes and setting afire vehicles, which forced them to retaliate. Locals said tension had been simmering between the villagers for past few days. Meanwhile, riot police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent any further damage. Kamble said additional forces would be deployed till the situation returns to complete normal. More than two-dozen people, including there cops, were injured in the ensuing violence.

Ansari is Minorities Commission chief (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Government on Friday appointed former diplomat and ex-vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University,Mohammad Hamid Ansari, as the new Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM). Ansari is a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He had served as permanent representative of India to the United Nations, as High Commissioner to Australia and as Ambassador to the UAE, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He was the Vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from May 2000 to March, 2002. The other two members of the NCM are Lama Chosphel Zotpa and Harcharan Singh Josh. Lama Chosphel Zotpa was Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe from 2002-2004. He is the President of Himalayan Budhist Cultural Association in New Delhi. Harcharan Singh Josh is an Advocate of Supreme Court of India and also holding the post of part time Director of Punjab and Sindh Bank in New Delhi. The tenure of the new Commission will be three years from the date of their assuming office.

India, Canada hold talks on migration (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: India and Canada held informal discussions on issues relating to international migration and related developments here on Friday. The talks held at the Akbar Bhawan here, were headed by Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Ramesh Narayanswami for India, while Malcolm Brown, ADM Strategic Directions and Communicatons, Citizenship and Immigration of Canada, led the Canadian side. The two sides, at the talks, focussed on areas of mutual cooperation with a view of making international migration a more orderly process with mutual advantage to both India and Canada. The on-going issues relating to high level dialogue on international migration also figured in the talks, besides issues arising from the report of the UN Global Commission on international migration. The Global Commission on International Migration was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and a number of governments in December, 2003 in Geneva. The independent body comprises of 19 Commissioners and was given the mandate to provide the framework for the formulation of a coherent, comprehensive and global response to the issue of international migration.

India wins three gold, one silver medal (Go To Top)

      Melbourne: It is India shining in Melbourne with Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang winning the Commonwealth Games men's 10m Air Rifle pairs shooting gold medal today. The two scored a total of 1189 points. Samaresh Jung and Vivek Singh from India took silver while England's Michael Gault and Nicholas Baxter won bronze. India won another gold medal in 25 meters pair sports pistol competition. The duo Saroja Kumari and Sushma Singh bagged the medal in the category with a score of 1140 out of 1200. India also won a gold medal in the 10-meter women's air rifle pair category. Tejaswani Sawant and Avneet Kaur won the gold with 395 out of 400 and 396 out of 400, respectively. The shooting team on the Indian side consists of 26 members. Not to forget Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who won the silver medal at the Olympic is also a part of the team. India and Australia are expected to corner most of the 40 shooting gold medals on offer at the Games. Out of the 40 gold medals on offer in four different events, India are tipped to grab about 25 medals that would include 15 gold in the men's and women's events. In the last games held in Manchester, India had won 13 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals.

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