'BSP worker' held for blackmailing Amar Singh

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police claim to have picked up a person for demanding Rs 5 crore from SP leader Amar Singh in lieu of making a statement in his favour before a Parliamentary panel probing the cash-for-vote scam. Hashmat Ali was arrested from Amar Singh’s residence on Thursday.
Ali, described by Singh as a BSP worker, had gone to Singh's residence this morning and demanded the hefty amount for changing his statement he had given to the panel, the SP leader claimed at a press conference.

Singh said Ali, who was to depose before the Inquiry Committee on FRiday, came to his residence around 8.30 am and said he could save the reputation of the SP leader by giving a favourable statement to the panel.

A person, whom Singh described as Hashmat Ali, was seen being taken away in a car from the SP leader's residence. "I am being kidnapped," the person shouted to reporters. However, Crime Branch of Delhi Police said that Ali was under detention and being questioned.

The issue of "kidnapping" of Ali is understood to have figured at the meeting of the Parliamentary panel with CPM member Mohammad Salim understood to have raised the issue.

Salim is learnt to have said that someone was trying hard to see that crucial evidence in the cash-for-vote scam was not brought before the panel to enable it reach the truth.

Opposition BJP termed Ali's detention as a "stage-managed" show by Singh and attacked him for trying to "influence and intimidate" the witness and the Committee.

"This is a stage-managed show and an attempt to intimidate and influence the witness and the committee," BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said demanding a new probe into the matter.

Source : Times Of India

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Manmohan, Zardari vow to be 'severe' on terror

NEW YORK: Acknowledging that the peace process has been "under strain" in recent months, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced that cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir will commence on October 21 and vowed to take "severe action" against any elements directing or involved in terrorist acts, giving fresh momentum for an "an early and full" normalisation of bilateral relations.

Unveiling a slew of measures for a "peaceful resolution and saisfactory settlement" of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his first meeting with the new Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari agreed that the forces that have tried to derail the peace process must be "defeated."

Meeting on the sidelines of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly session at the Millenium hotel where the Pakistan President is staying, the two leaders came out with a joint statement agreeing that violence, hostility and terrorism have no place in the vision they share of the bilateral relationship and must be "visibly and verifiably" prevented.

In an apparent attempt to tell India that let bygones be bygones in the backdrop of rise in cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, Zardari reassured Singh that the Pakistan government stood by its commitments of January 6, 2004 to stamp out terrorism.

With the needle of suspicion pointing to Pakistans ISI for the bombing of he Indian Embassy in Kabul, the two leaders agreed to convene a special meeting of the Joint Anti-Terror mechanism to address mutual concerns including the Kabul attack.

The two countries agreed to commence cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot roads on October 21,2008, open the Wagah-Attari road link to all permissible items on trade and the Khokrapar-Munabao rail route to all allowed items of trade.

The two leaders addressed the apparent lack of progress at the Foreign Secretary level talks to resolve outstanding issues saying they will schedule meetings of the Fifth round of the Composite dialogue in the next three months which will focus on "deliverables and concrete achievements."

Briefing newsmen after the nearly hour-long meeting, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said Prime Minister Singh was "very satisfied" at the meeting. The joint statement is a strong one in regard to the approach to be followed to deal with terrorism, he said, adding "we hope progress will be made on all (bilateral) issues.
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Source : Times Of India

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Amar disappointed with SP-Congress alliance

NEW DELHI: Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Samajwadi Party general secretary hit at the alliance with the Congress.

Expressing unhappiness with the state of ties with the Congress, he said, “I am disappointed that Congress MP Rashid Aivi attacked me”.

Amar also said that the party has indulged in character assassination. He threatened to expose a lot of big people in the Congress.

He went to on say that so far what has happened is worse than a honey trap.

It hasn’t been a long time since Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress joined hands to bail out the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during the Indo-US nuclear deal crisis.

But, now the rift between the two parties is deepening, with both sides making charges against each other over the seat-sharing row.

The third round of talks between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections would take place later this week.


Source : Times Of India

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AL, BNP agree to register with Election Commission (EC )

DHAKA: Major political parties have agreed to contest the December 18 national elections after registration with the Election Commission under the relaxed provisions on party registration, but demanded withdrawal of the state of emergency and deferment of the upazila polls scheduled for December 24 and 28.( The New Age BD )

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party explained its stand on the issues to the commission on Tuesday when a four-member party delegation met the chief and other election commissioners.

The delegation urged the commission to defer the holding of the upzila polls by a month.

They also demanded an immediate withdrawal of the emergency to ensure a congenial atmosphere for the elections.

The Awami League at its presidium meeting on Sunday made similar demands.

At a rally of the Dhaka city north unit of the Awami Swechhasebak League, Awami League leaders demanded deferral of the upazila polls by at least 45 days to avoid ‘unwarranted problems’ in the holding of the general elections. They also demanded withdrawal of the state of emergency.

Both the parties also said there could be no elections under the state of emergency.

Five city mayors on Tuesday too favoured deferment of the upazila polls on the grounds that the polls, as scheduled, might hamper the holding of the national elections, which is the main responsibility of the interim government.

After a meeting with the LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, at the secretariat, they said it would be difficult both for the local administration and the police to cope with the situation and for the parties to coordinate electoral activities if the campaigns for national and local elections go together.

‘We will get registered and contest the next general elections as the BNP is an election-oriented party,’ the party’s vice-chairman MK Anwar, who led the BNP delegation, told reporters after the two-hour meeting at the EC secretariat.

He said they had asked the commission to defer the upazila polls by a month and withdraw the emergency.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, however, rejected the demand for the deferral of the upazila polls, saying, ‘The commission has made all the preparations for holding upazila polls on the dates set.’

He welcomed the BNP’s move for registration with the commission and hoped the party would register with the commission by October 15, the deadline previously set.

‘We are happy the BNP has shown its interest in getting registered. We hope other parties will also accomplish the task by the time,’ he said.

The party’s joint secretaries general Nazrul Islam Khan and Abdul Mannan, and office secretary Rizvi Ahmed were in the BNP delegation.

Election commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain also attended the meeting.

MK Anwar said they had discussed Monday’s revision of the electoral laws which eased the procedure for registration of political parties.

‘The commission is brining about changes to a number of provisions in the amended Representation of the People Order. We have come to know of the details and made our stand clear before the commission,’ he said.

According to Monday’s revision, the political parties will now be able to register by submitting ‘provisional’ party constitutions without convening council sessions, but with clear pledges that they would meet the conditions set by the commission for reforms.

The BNP at a dialogue with the commission on Saturday demanded withdrawal or suspension of the latest amendments to the electoral laws, including the Representation of the People (amendment) Ordinance and provisions for compulsory registration of political parties to contest the forthcoming polls.

The BNP’s secretary general Khnadaker Delwar Hossain at an iftar party of its Paltan unit termed the remarks of MK Anawar regarding the party’s participation in the polls ‘his personal opinion.’

‘The final decision on the party’s participation in the polls will be made after discussion with the party chairperson, senior leaders and components of the BNP-led alliance,’ he told newsmen.

‘We are repeatedly asking the government and the Election Commission to create a level plying field for the elections by withdrawing the state of emergency. No elections could be held under the state of emergency,’ he said.

MK Anwar, in the evening, however, stood by his remarks made at the Election Commission in the morning. ‘We were sent by the party to apprise the commission of the party’s stand after they had relaxed some of their provisions. The commission heard us and showed a positive attitude.’

Asked about Delwar’s comment, Anwar said, ‘If the secretary general says so, I have nothing to add. But my remark was based on the September 11 statement of Khaleda Zia where she said the party would contest the polls and the party is yet to change the position.’

As for party registration, he said no party could register with the commission the way it had initially worked out the process. ‘The BNP will consider registration of the party now that the Election Commission has relaxed some provisions.’

Source : News From Bangladesh

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Jamat-ud-Dawa using mosques for jihad: Report

ISLAMABAD: Activists of an organisation led by Lashker-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed are using mosques to issue calls for jihad against the US in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, a media report said on Tuesday.

Members of Jamat-ud-Dawa, set up by Saeed after the Lashker-e-Taiba was banned by the Pakistan government, have been operating in the city's posh residential districts like Hayatabad and University Town, where they address people in mosques about the importance of jihad, the Daily Times said.

Quoting eyewitnesses, the newspaper said the activists have issued calls for a holy war against the US to worshippers at different mosques.

"A young, bearded and long-haired activist of the Jamat-ud-Dawa stood up after the Fajr (morning) prayers and began calling for jihad against infidels," said a University of Peshawar professor who had come across the activists at Madina mosque.

Mumtaz Khan, a resident of Hayatabad, who came across an extremist at Bilal mosque, said the fundamentalists cite dangers to Pakistan to incite people for war.

"The extremists first speak about geopolitics (and) dangers to Pakistan from both eastern and western borders and then urge the importance of jihad," he said.

A caretaker of one of the mosques confirmed that the Jamat-ud-Dawa, which describes itself as a charitable organisation, was using mosques to invite people for jihad.

"Under what law can I stop them from doing so? There is no law, both governmental or Islamic," said the caretaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"These callers come at different prayer times and are peaceful and appear to be pro-Pakistan," the caretaker added.

He also said that the number of such extremists had increased recently in the wake of the US drone attacks in the restive tribal areas.

After lying low for several years, banned groups like the Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have stepped up their activities across Pakistan since the resignation of former President Pervez Musharraf last month.

Source : Times Of India

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Chiru sets up panel to study problems plaguing weavers

HYDERABAD: As a follow-up to his successful interaction with bereaved families of weavers in Sircilla, Prajarajyam party president Chiranjeevi on Monday appointed a committee headed by party's senior adviser K S R Murthy to study the crisis in the handloom sector.

Chiranjeevi told the media that the committee would study the problems being faced by the handloom sector and suggest ways to tackle them.

"I was moved by the pathetic situation of weavers in the region. Instead of just visiting the place to console them, I wanted to work for the resolution of the problems sincerely. The committee under KSR Murty will guide us in working out a solution ," he said. Enthused by the response to his short notice visit to Sircilla, he said he would conduct more tours to problematic areas to understand the problems first hand.

Source : Times Of India

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Rahul as PM? Congress scion says 'question is open'

AMRITSAR/PATIALA: At 7 am, inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple, the CCTV repeatedly zoomed in on a white kurta-pyjama clad figure sitting cross-legged and listening intently to kirtans sung by raagis. It was only then that senior Congress leaders as well as the Amritsar IG realized Rahul Gandhi had begun his Punjab darshan with a visit to Harmandir Sahib.

"We wanted it to be low profile and less noisy," a Punjab Congress leader said. But as it is with his visits, Rahul, by the end of the day, had created quite a flutter. To a question on his possible elevation as prime minister of India, the 38-year-old AICC general secretary flashed his dimpled smile and told students at Patiala's Punjabi University that the question will remain "open, not closed."

In the 30-minute slotted interaction that stretched to 90 minutes, before Rahul was literally pulled away by anxious Congressmen who wanted him to grace other functions lined up by them, the Gandhi scion said, "The question of my elevation to the PM's post is still open and has not been closed as yet." He, however, added that he didn't aspire to become PM but to "make our party strong at the grass root level."

Prodded further, he dodged questions and picked up the ones on reservation in the education. "The key is to increase the number of universities and schools," he said.

"I think instead of debating about the withdrawal of reservation, our government should focus on increasing the number of universities and colleges. Where this is not possible, we must increase the number of seats. I am in the favor of increasing the size of the cake and not seeing family members fighting for their share."

The students gathered for the session had a lot on their mind though and wouldn't let Rahul off the hook. An interesting episode occurred when a student, neck up with knowledge about India's nuclear deal, stumped Rahul on one of the nitty-gritty. Rahul though for a moment and said, "Why are you asking me all this when you seem to know more about it than I do."

As the hall burst out laughing, Rahul went on to terrorism and stressed that he is much in favour of dealing with subversive violence "more aggressively". A little pause later he quipped, "But it's not about implementation of Pota to control terrorism. Pota is ineffective and there is no need for this law in country. Tada is more stringent and I think we should not waste time in debates about anti-terrorism laws, focusing instead on immediately implementing effective laws to tackle terrorism which is threatening both nationally and at an international level."

On corruption in politics, Rahul said it was discouraging youngsters from entering politics "which is working to the advantage of older politicians who don't want to leave their chairs".

At Sunam, as Rahul was passing through to Sangrur, already late by three hours, someone told him about Udham Singh. Breaching security concerns, he ran to the martyr's statue and asking his cavalcade to stop for a while, offered flowers.

Source : Times Of India

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Maya takes exception to Guv remarks

LUCKNOW: In a letter sent to governor TV Rajeswar, chief minister Mayawati has said “I was surprised to read your comments in newspapers. You never made any such comment during the previous regime where mid-session transfers were the order of the day.”

She added that there could be a few incidents where under unavoidable circumstances, transfers were done.

In this context, the chief minister in letter further stated that during the present BSP rule, mid-session transfers were done only where it was necessary.

Here she said that since the IAS, PCS, IPS and PPS officers were directly linked to the works related to the masses and were responsible for maintaining law and order and development of the state, government had no option but to transfer, or in some cases initiate action against, those who were found wanting in discharge of their duties.

Stating that her government had adopted a transparent policy regarding transfer of officials, the chief minister said that her government had never crossed the upper limit of 10 per cent annual transfers and claimed that such an arrangement was only in Uttar Pradesh.

She said that: “it would have been appropriate if before making remarks about the functioning of the state government at the governors’ meet, you had known the exact situation from me.”

In the concluding paragraph of her letter, the chief minister requested the governor that in the event of any doubt, he should seek information from the state government which was always eager to reply to his queries.

She also requested the governor to extend his cooperation to the state government in discharging its constitutional duties to establish the rule of law.


Source : Times Of India

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Chiru to meet people displaced by projects

HYDERABAD: Enthused by the huge response he received from the weavers of Sircilla, Prajarajyam president Chiranjeevi is looking at 'project-affected persons' (PAP) as his next target audience.

"People affected by SEZ in Mahbubnagar district, tribals being uprooted by the bauxite mining in Vizag area and fishermen facing the threat of evacuation to make way for coastal corridors. Chiranjeevi wants to meet all these sections to know the dark side of the so-called development in the state, " sources told 'TOI' .

"Though the suicide of farmers and weavers is a serious matter, the plight of the project-affected persons is equally a serious one. Even though some NGOs are working to help them, political parties have not been able to visualise the true dimension of the PAP," the sources said. As of now there are nearly 10 lakh people facing the threat of evacuation due to various projects and "the compensation is meagre. Rehabilitation is either not taken up or is tardy, and above all the cultural shock they received due to uprooting is immense," the sources said.

Party spokesman P Prabhakar said PRP would not indulge in abusing other political parties but would instead go directly to the suffering masses. It would not only understand their problems but come out with alternative plans to improve their lives.

Among other issues, chronic fluoride problem in Nalgonda districts also finds place in the priority list of the star. Apart from these familiarisation trips to problematic regions in the state, "The star is particular about visiting the church in the Medak town and the famous Pedda Masjid in Kadapa," the sources added.



Source : Times Of India

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Modi set to be BJP's anti-terror mascot

NEW DELHI: As the government mulls whether to bring a special law to fight terror, its principal challenger BJP has already got into the act, taking up terrorism in a big way even before dates for the coming assembly polls are announced. It has also drafted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in what promises to be a high decibel campaign.

The top BJP leadership including party chief Rajnath Singh, senior leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley, will be joined on stage by Modi, the party's star anti-terror campaigner, for a rally in Karol Bagh here on Friday.

The rally, which comes within a week of Saturday's serial blasts that rocked the capital, is a clear statement of the BJP's intent to highlight the Centre's ''failure'' on the internal security front.

Modi, after the Gujarat police's success in nabbing SIMI activists and others behind the Ahmedabad blasts a month back, has emerged as the opposition's key campaigner against terror.

The Gujarat CM, who emerged as one of the most important faces of the party at the BJP's national executive last weekend in Bangalore, is tipped to be the main attraction at Friday's rally.

Source : Times Of India

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