News

Assam declined to send policeman on deputation, Delhi HC told

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The Delhi High Court Wednesday was informed by the central government that Assam has rejected its request to depute a police officer to the national capital to act as an interface on issued concerning the safety of people from the northeast living there.

Assam government said it has already been going through the shortage of police personnel in the state and can not send officers on deputation, counsel for the central government told the division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw.

Tewari tenders apology to Gadkari over Adarsh allegations: BJP

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Congress leader Manish Tewari has tendered an “unconditional apology” to former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari for for allegations against him relating to Adarsh housing society controversy, the BJP said Wednesday.

According to a Bharatiya Janata Party press release, Tewari, the information and broadcasting minister, made a written submission in the court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Mumbai.

“I state that in future, I will never put you in disrepute by making any comments with regard to the Adarsh Society,” Tewari also said in his submission.

Bail plea of three Muzaffarnagar riots accused rejected

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A local court has rejected bail plea of three persons accused of murder in a Muzaffarnagar riots related case.

Additional district sessions judge Jitender Kumar on Tuesday rejected bail plea of Karan Singh Bhogra, Niraj and Ashok accused in a murder case in Kharad village of the district.

Congress backstabbed Seemandhra: Modi

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BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Wednesday alleged that the Congress backstabbed Seemandhra and promised to develop it as the number one state in the country.

Addressing an election meeting in this temple town Wednesday evening along with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan, he said Seemandhra had more potential than Gujarat.

Claiming that he has a clear plan for the development of Seemandhra, Modi said the same can be implemented only if people bring the TDP-BJP to power in the state.

Blast rocks railway station in China’s Xinjiang

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An explosion today rocked a railway station in Urumqi, capital of China’s volatile Muslim-majority Xinjiang province.

Details about the blast and casualties are unclear, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing officials.

Ambulances and police cars have rushed to the scene.

The blast came days after the first visit of President Xi Jinping to Xinjiang which in recent years witnessed a spurt in attacks by Islamic militants as province experienced ethnic tensions between native Uygur Muslims and Han Chinese settlers from other provinces.

IAF gets new deputy chief

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Air Marshal S.B.P.Sinha Wednesday assumed charge as the deputy chief of air staff at the air headquarters here, a defence ministry statement said.

Sinha, who is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, was commissioned in the fighter stream on June 15, 1980. He has over 3,700 hours of flying experience and has flown the Hunter, MiG 21, Mirage 2000 and SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

He has previously held important positions at the Air Headquarters which including serving as the deputy director of operations (electronic warfare).
(IANS)

Why Narendra Modi is silent on Ramdev’s controversial remarks: Congress

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Questioning the “silence” of Narendra Modi over Ramdev’s controversial remarks against Rahul Gandhi, Congress on Wednesday wondered whether the BJP PM candidate was justifying the insult of dalits by the Yoga guru.

“Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue is deafening. He speaks on every issue, but why is he silent on this? Is he seeking to justify the insult of dalits or is he giving tacit support to what Ramdev has said,” party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed told reporters.

Hope luck favours as well in Ahmedabad: Dravid

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Rajasthan Royals mentor Rahul Dravid hoped that luck would favour them at their new home in Ahmedabad like it did in Jaipur in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The former India captain said Wednesday that Rajasthan Royals will miss playing at their home ground, the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, in Jaipur.

Their home matches were controversially shifted to Ahmedabad after the Rajasthan government refused to give a no objection certificate (NOC) due to the general elections.

HC notice to Centre, DJB on water scarcity in Delhi’s Dwarka

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The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the central and Delhi governments, and civic agencies DJB and DDA on a plea seeking direction to authorities to take immediate steps to provide water to resident of Dwarka area of the capital.

A bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Jayant Nath sought response by from authorities by May 15 while asking the Delhi Development Authority to bring the layout plan of the area on next date of hearing.

India hard hit by terrorism from Pakistan: US report

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India remained severely affected by and vulnerable to terrorism, including from Pakistan-based groups and their affiliates as well as left-wing violent extremists, last year, according to a new US report.

In response, Government of India “continued to undertake efforts to coordinate its counterterrorism capabilities more effectively”, said the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 submitted to the US Congress Wednesday.

Narendra Modi’s mother travels in auto to cast vote

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Hiraben, the mother of Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, travelled in an auto rickshaw to cast her vote in the Gujarat Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.

The 77-year-old travelled quietly in an auto sans the cavalcade to cast her vote in Sector 22 in Gandhinagar.

After casting her vote, Hiraben reportedly said that she believes that her son will become the prime minister of the nation.

Earlier, Modi also cast his ballot and tweeted that he is fortunate to vote for veteran party leader LK Advani in Gandhinagar constituency.

Women paddlers get past Italy, men lose against same rivals

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India’s women paddlers maintained their good form as they brushed aside the Italian challenge with a 3-1 victory while the men’s team lost 2-3 against same rivals in the Stage-I of the 2nd division group matches at the World Table Tennis Championships.

In the women’s tie, K Shamini laboured a lot before losing 4-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-9 and 9-11 to Chiara Colantoni in what should have been an easy battle for the Indian.

Shamini had everything going for her in the fifth game but a couple of crucial errors cost her dear.

Police lodge FIR against Modi for poll code breach

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Gujarat Police Wednesday registered a FIR against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the Election Commission’s directions for violating law by displaying the party’s “lotus” symbol and delivering a political speech after casting his vote.

The complaint was lodged at the Ahmedabad City police station following complaints by Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party that Modi, also the Gujarat chief minister, had displayed a paper lotus after casting his vote at Ranip polling station in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

2 FIRs filed against Narendra Modi for violating model code of conduct

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Praising the Election Commission’s (EC) order to the Gujarat authorities to file a First Information Report (FIR) against BJP’s PM nominee Narendra Modi and the electronic media that showed him flashing the “lotus” near the polling booth — in violation of election laws, Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said he is happy about the decision taken by the EC.

UN chief condemns car bombing in Syria’s Homs

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday condemned the car bombing in central Homs of western Syria in which 36 people were killed and many more injured.

“These are horrendous acts of terror against innocent civilians,” Xinhua quoted a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson.

“The secretary-general deeply regrets that the attack in Homs comes in the midst of ongoing cease-fire negotiations over the Old City of Homs and calls on the government and opposition groups to resist provocative attempts at undermining any peace efforts,” the statement said.

Lalu does it again; calls Narendra Modi ‘executioner’

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Targeting Narendra Modi on the issue of Gujarat riots, RJD President Lalu Prasad on Wednesday described the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate as an “executioner”.

“Narendra Modi is a ‘jallad’ (executioner), is a ‘jallad’, is a ‘jallad’. It doesn’t matter where he goes, where he comes or what he does,” Prasad told reporters at the Patna airport.

Prasad’s jibe followed his ‘butcher’ comment on Modi yesterday.

The RJD leader said that he was sad that people like Lok Janshakti Party President Ram Vilas Paswan and others had gone with the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Third Front a post-poll possibility, says Yechury

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The CPI-M believes that any possibility of a Third Front government at the centre would only emerge after the results of the Lok Sabha polls come out, party leader Sitaram Yechury said Wednesday.

Talking to reporters here, the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member, said that “any such formation will only emerge in the post-poll scenario”.

Pakistan eager to work with new Indian government, says envoy

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Pakistan is closely watching the unfolding parliamentary elections in India and is eager to work with whichever government come to power, its High Commissioner Abdul Basit said here Wednesday.

“We are keen to resume the engagement process between he two countries, as comprehensive and meaningful as possible,” he said.

“Whoever becomes the next prime minister of India, whichever government comes to power, we are all for having a meaningful engagement,” Basit declared, interacting with media persons informally during his three-day visit to the country’s commercial capital here.

Rs.272 crore seized by EC so far

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A total of Rs.272 crore in cash has been seized so far during the ongoing Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission (EC) said Wednesday.

Till Wednesday, the EC has seized 2.12 crore litres of liquor, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said here. The poll panel has also seized 1.69 lakh kg of narcotics.
(IANS)

Over 26 percent voting in Srinagar, one killed in firing

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Srinagar Lok Sabha seat saw a 26.08 percent turnout Wednesday, slightly higher than in the 2009 polls. Polling was peaceful but a youth was killed and two others injured when security forces, escorting a polling party returning after voting ended, opened fire after a mob pelted stones at them in the old city.

Kapil’s Narendra Modi tweet caused an uproar

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Comedian Kapil Sharma’s innocuous re-tweet of Bharatiya Janata Party’s primeministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s remark comparing Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s speeches to Kapil’s comedy sparked of an ugly Twitter battle between supporters and opponents of Modi.

Kapil had to hastily delete the Modi tweet and plead with his fans and followers to stop the ugly war of words.
On being contacted Kapil expressed immense dismay at the turn of events.

UP braves rising mercury for 60 percent voting

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Rising day temperatures failed to flag the spirits of voters in Uttar Pradesh with 59.60 percent polling recorded across the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies that went to polls Wednesday.

While the past three phases saw an impressive turnout with an average of 60 percent, it was feared that extreme heat would hit the fourth round of the Lok Sabha election in the state.

With the mercury in Lucknow and most parts of the state at 42 degrees Celsius Wednesday, Election Commission (EC) officials attributed it to the poor voting in some areas.

Punjab headed to highest-ever polling

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Punjab was heading for an all-time high voter turnout of 73 percent with the balloting continuing beyond the 6 p.m. deadline as voters were still queued up, the Election Commission said here Wednesday.

Punjab’s chief electoral officer (CEO) V.K. Singh told media that voting was still continuing at various polling locations with people standing in queues beyond 6 p.m.

Train crashes into another in Sri Lanka; 68 hurt

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A train crashed head-on into a stopped train at a station in northwestern Sri Lanka today, injuring 68 people.

It occurred in Pothuhera, about 90 kilometres northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said a train from Colombo travelling to Pallai in the north crashed into a southbound train that was stopped at the station. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Rohana said four of the injured passengers are in serious condition.

Trains are a popular mode of transport in the island nation, and are generally considered safe.

Several injured as blast hits railway station in China

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Scores of people were injured today when a powerful blast struck a railway station in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, as President Xi Jinping wrapped up his first ever visit to the troubled region during which he vowed to fight terrorism.

The explosion took place this evening at the exit of the south railway station of Urumqi. Ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.