Rajnath accords 'special welcome' to Narendra Modi at BJP conclave

NEW DELHI: The three-day conclave of BJP kicked off on Friday with the spotlight on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, projected by some as the party's prime ministerial face, amid voices in the party that his popularity has grown significantly to make a mark on the national polity. The conclave, convened mainly to ratify the presidentship of Rajnath Singh who took over in January, will see the...

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Manik Sarkar, son of tailor, to be Tripura chief minister again

AGARTALA: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, set to assume office for a fourth time after leading the Left to a huge electoral win, is the son of a tailor who still washes his own clothes.An unassuming man, the 64-year-old got down to work no soon than he was declared the winner from Dhanpur constituency. He met CPM leaders and activists at Sonamura, 60km from here. On Thursday, the Communist...

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18-month-old stuck in US for 7 months finally returns home

KOLKATA: Indrashis Saha, the 18-month old baby who spent seven months in custody of the US child protection agency in New Jersey returned to Kolkata on Wednesday. Initially zapped by the reception after a 10-hour flight, he clung onto his grandmother's arms as if he had missed all that attention for months. Indrashis' software engineer father Debasish Saha had gone there to work on a project in...

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Thomas’s remark can erode faith in judiciary, say jurists

NEW DELHI: More than 12 years after he presided over a 3-judge Supreme Court bench that unanimously upheld death penalty to Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts Murugan, Perarivalan and Santhan, Justice K T Thomas raised many eyebrows by advocating a review of capital punishment awarded to them. Former Chief Justice of India V N Khare said it was not open for a retired judge to comment on...

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CBI names former Air chief Shashi P Tyagi in Agusta kickbacks scandal

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday launched formal investigations into alleged bribes in the Rs 3,546-crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, naming 11 people including former Air Chief Marshal Shashi P Tyagi, three of his cousins and a former top official of Italian firm Finmeccanica. The preliminary inquiry registered by the CBI into the alleged payment of Rs 362...

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No permission for Ramdev's rally in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: The plan of Yoga teacher Ramdev to hold a rally in Solan district today received a setback after district administration refused to give permission for the February 27 meeting. "We had changed the venue from Sadhupul to Solan and assured that the rally would be completely peaceful, but surprisingly, the MC Solan has declined to give permission for holding the rally at Thodo ground on February...

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Polls: Meghalaya, Nagaland witness high voter turnout

DIMAPUR/SHILLONG: Despite a boycott call by a militant outfit, Meghalaya saw a high turnout of over 85 per cent voters in the assembly polls on Saturday. In Nagaland, the other northeastern state to go to the polls along with Meghalaya, more than 83 per cent of the electorate cast their votes.Defying the 36-hour bandh called by the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) to keep people away...

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AgustaWestland says it had not paid bribe to bag helicopter deal

NEW DELHI: The defence ministry is keeping all its options open after AgustaWestland on Friday once again claimed, as was expected, that it had not paid bribes to bag the Rs 3,546-crore contract for 12 VVIP helicopters. "We will seek further clarifications from the company in a detailed and pointed questionnaire. But our next step will be based on the reports of our joint secretary, who was sent...

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Yashwant Sinha to lead debate on chopper scam

HAZARIBAG: BJP MP Yashwant Sinha will be the main speaker in Parliament on the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam, which is top on the agenda of BJP and NDA.Talking to the media here on Wednesday, Sinha said, "The decision was taken at L K Advani's residence on Tuesday. Although parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said the government was ready for a debate on the issue and also for taking it...

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BJP will solve Indo-Naga problem if NDA comes to power: Rajnath Singh

DIMAPUR: The BJP reiterated that it would work towards solving the Indo-Naga problem if the BJP-led NDA government comes to power at the Centre. Talking to mediapersons at Dimapur Airport on Tuesday, national BJP president Rajnath Singh said that for decades Nagaland witnessed violence and turmoil and it was only after the AtalBihariVajpayee-led NDA government came to power at the Centre that positive...

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Tamil Nadu parties slam 'brutal killing' of Prabhakaran's son; Lanka says video 'half-truth'

CHENNAI: Leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu strongly condemned the alleged cold-blooded killing of the 12-year-old son of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, purportedly featured by UK-based Channel 4, and demanded action against the Sri Lankan government.MDMK leader Vaiko demanded an international inquiry into the killing of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka and said the forthcoming UN Human...

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Zakia told to challenge SIT closure report by April 15

AHMEDABAD: A Gujarat court on Monday ordered Zakia Jafri, wife of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed during the 2002 post-Godhra riots, to challenge the special investigation team (SIT) closure report giving clean chit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and others by April 15. Metropolitan magistrate BJ Ganatra directed Zakia to file her protest petition in eight weeks, against the...

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Lokpal, right to reject can eliminate graft: Anna Hazare

HYDERABAD: Declaring that he would mobilize six crore people over next one and a half years for his anti-graft campaign, Anna Hazare on Sunday said Jan Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption and called for comprehensive electoral reforms and empowering of village-level bodies.Addressing a public meeting, he said his fight was for changing the entire system and called upon youths to join hands with...

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Irish hospital's doctors failed to treat Savita Halappanavar, leaked death probe report says

LONDON: Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died as a result of a litany of failures by hospital staff, a leaked draft of a probe report said, proving her family's claim that her death was avoidable. The report by Ireland's health ministry revealed that doctors caring for the 31-year-old dentist seriously failed to investigate, recognize and treat the infection which led to her death. Savita died...

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India returns Pakistan soldier's body

JAMMU/NEW DELHI: The Army on Friday returned the body of a Pakistani soldier, who was killed after he had intruded into Indian territory near Laam post along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir's Rajouri district a day earlier.This comes a month after the beheading of an Indian soldier following a cross-LoC raid plunged relations between the two countries into their worst crisis since...

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Pak troops violate ceasefire in J&K's Poonch sector

JAMMU: In a fresh ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops fired at Indian posts along the line of control (LoC) in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir late on Thursday, but there was no casualty on the Indian side. Pakistani troopers resorted to small and medium weapon firing in Balnoi forward area along the LoC at 8.05pm, PRO defence SN Acharya said. Indian troops guarding the borderline retaliated...

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UK restores J&K travel advisory

NEW DELHI: Following the hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammed Afzal Guru and the subsequent curfew in parts of the J&K, the United Kingdom has reviewed its travel advisory asking its citizens to monitor the situation and be prepared to alter travel plans. The overall advice for British citizens has not been changed. This review could reflect badly on what was considered an improved...

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No merger with anyone, Raj Thackeray responds to Uddhav's offer

MUMBAI: Ruling out merger with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray today said he had no intention of aligning with anybody. Speaking at a rally in Maharashtra's Kolhapur town, Raj said, "There is no thought now of any alliance. Do talks of alliance happen through newspapers?" He was making a veiled reference to Uddhav's "merger offer" made through...

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Suspend, book cops who 'detained' Gilani: Katju

NEW DELHI: Slamming the police for "detaining" journalist Iftikhar Gilani on Sunday, Press Council of India chairman Markanday Katju on Monday asked Union home secretary to charge and suspend the cops if the allegations of "high-handedness" against them were correct. In a letter to the home secretary RK Singh , Justice Katju also sought immediate institution of criminal proceedings against such officers...

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Ten killed in Allahabad railway station stampede

ALLAHABAD: At least 10 persons were killed and scores of others injured on Sunday evening in a stampede at Allahabad railway station teeming with thousands of pilgrims returning after a holy dip at the Mahakumbh here.According to divisional railway manager Harinder Rao, 10 people died and scores were injured in the mishap.The stampede occurred at 7pm when Platforms No 5 and 6 were packed with thousands...

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