BJP gears up for polls; targets Congress on terror and graft

NEW DELHI: BJP president Rajnath Singh today gave a call to his party cadre to put up a united fight in the next general elections to oust the "corrupt, ineffective" UPA as he took on Congress-led government over its alleged failure on internal security, economy and foreign policy fronts. Delivering the inaugural speech at the BJP National Council here, Singh while lauding the achievements of Gujarat...

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Firing at Indian posts along LoC

JAMMU: Indian posts along the line of control in Mendhar belt of Poonch district came under firing, a BSF official said on Friday.However, there was no report of any causality. There was a firing from across the border on Indian posts in Gagdiayal forward area along LoC on Thursday night, the official said. There was small arms and rocket firing, he said adding there was no loss of life or injury...

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Left returns to power in Tripura for 5th consecutive time; Congress retains Meghalaya

AGARTALA: The Left Front in Tripura today retained power for the fifth consecutive time since 1993 with the coalition securing a three-fourths majority by winning 50 of the 60 Assembly seats.While CPM, which contested in 55 seats, secured win in 49 seats, coalition partner CPI won one seat of the two it had contested. However, RSP which fought in two seats and Forward Bloc in one, failed to open...

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House panel against considering mercy plea of rape-murder convicts

NEW DELHI: Two months after questioning the rationale behind commuting death sentences of five rape-murder convicts to life imprisonment during then President Pratibha Patil's tenure, a Parliamentary committee has now suggested that the mercy petitions should not be by and large considered for such criminals. Though the Committee is not in favour of completely knocking out the provision of mercy...

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Afzal Guru 'justified' Parliament attack in letter written four years ago

SRINAGAR: Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru had in a letter, purportedly written by him over four years ago, said that there was no need to be ashamed of the December 13 attack on Parliament, but had stopped short of owning any responsibility for it.In the letter written to editor of a local Urdu weekly, Guru, who was hanged in Delhi's Tihar jail on February 9, asked Hizbul Mujahideen...

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Chopper scam: CBI names ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi as suspect

NEW DELHI: Armed with documents from Italy, CBI today named former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi in its preliminary enquiry (PE) into allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the second former defence services chief to figure in a scam probe. Besides the former IAF chief, 10 others including his cousins — Julie, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi have also been named along with four companies...

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Hyderabad blasts: Cops get 'clear clues', question 30 people

HYDERABAD: Investigators are believed to have obtained certain "clear clues" based on CCTV footage at the site of the twin blasts in Hyderabad and questioning of some jailed terror suspects here even as a letter purportedly written by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility. Sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while being briefed by state DGP V Dinesh Reddy here about the progress...

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Montek's plane waits in air as cows invade airstrip

DHANBAD: A plane carrying Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia cound not land for quite some time on Saturday due to a cow herd grazing on the airstrip near here and it touched down only after officials stepped in and shooed the cattle away. The pilot of the plane carrying Ahluwalia noticed some cows grazing at the Tata Steel Jharia division airstrip at Bhauran, about 23km...

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Indian Coast Guard inducts a new generation of interceptor boat

MUMBAI: The Indian Navy has added feathers to its armoury with the commission of Indian Coast Guard Ship C-154, the New Generation of Arneson Surface Drive (ASD) Interceptor Boat. The 28 metres long Interceptor Boat with 75 tonnes displacement can achieve a maximum speed of 35 knots. This Interceptor Boat has been built by M/s Bharati Shipyard Ltd. The vessel is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation...

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2 more ministers resign, Jagadish Shettar govt safe for now

BANGALORE: With in a month after 12 of its MLAs resigned, the beleaguered ruling-BJP yet again received a jolt.Joining the list of the ministers and MLAs to resign, forest minister CP Yogeshwar and small scale industries minister Narasimha Naik resigned from the ministry by handing the papers to chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday.As Speaker KG Bopaiah was out of the state, Yogeshwar and...

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Major challenge before nation is to create jobs: Anand Sharma

MUMBAI: Commerce & industry minister Anand Sharma has admitted that the creation of jobs is a major challenge before the nation. It is necessary to go back to a high rate of economic growth rate of around 9 per cent per annum, he added. Speaking on the issue of corruption and scams, the minister claimed India has in place an "effective mechanism in the form of free judiciary to fix the problem"....

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Russia should induct BrahMos missile: Antony

NEW DELHI: Russia should induct the joint venture BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to fully appreciate its tie up with India for developing the weapon system, defence minister AK Antony said on Tuesday."Russia should induct BrahMos in their fleet so that the success achieved in the joint venture will be fully appreciated," he said here.The missile is yet to be inducted into the Russian armed forces....

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Singapore most visited travel destination for Indians: Study

NEW DELHI: Singapore continued to be the most visited destination for leisure and business travellers from India in 2012, even as the number of visitors declined as compared to the previous years, said a recent study titled India Outbound Travel Monitor 2012, by Nielsen, a global information and measurement company. The study was carried out in 10 cities with over 2500 respondents. As against...

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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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Supreme Court refuses to hear Veerappan's aides' plea urgently

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday refused urgent hearing on the plea of four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan seeking stay of execution of their death penalty reportedly fixed for Sunday, saying there was no proof about it. The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir but he did not give a hearing to it, said a staff from his office when contacted. Senior advocate...

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Cabinet clears text for amendment to Indo-Bangla land boundary pact

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has cleared the text for the constitutional amendment to the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement (LBA). The move is a step forward as the UPA government has been struggling to ink the pact with Bangladesh, which will result in solving one of the most vexed border problems New Delhi has with its neighbours. Foreign minister Salman Khurshid will be in Dhaka over the...

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Khurshid speaks to Maldivian foreign minister to diffuse Nasheed crisis

NEW DELHI: Foreign minister Salman Khurshid called his counterpart in the Maldives Abdul Samad Abdulla to discuss the case of former president Nasheed's refuge in the Indian mission and the September 7 elections. While details were not available, Khurshid is understood to have asked the Maldivian government to create conducive climate for all shades of political opinion to function without fear....

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I was sexually abused for several years, Anoushka Shankar says

NEW DELHI: Anoushka Shankar, daughter of legendary sitarist Ravi Shankar, has thrown her weight behind an online campaign demanding an end to crime against women, in the wake of the Delhi gang rape. The 31-year-old sitarist has invited one billion women and those who love them, via the website Change.org, to walk out, "Dance, rise up, and demand" an end to this violence this Valentine's Day, February...

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United Insurance Company penalized for refusing insurance claim

NEW DELHI: A district consumer forum has asked the United Insurance Company Limited to compensate one of its clients with Rs 50,000 and also fulfill his vehicle insurance claim. The order was passed after Sarojini Tiwari dragged the insurance company to the forum for refusing to pay Rs 2, 79, 879 for the repairs done to his car. In his complaint Tiwari stated that after an accident he handed over...

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Had Vajpayee been PM, Afzal's execution wouldn’t have happened: Ex-RAW chief

NEW DELHI: Calling the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru a setback to the process of reconciliation and normalcy in Kashmir, former chief of Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and an expert on the valley AS Dulat has said that had AB Vajpayee been the Prime Minister he would have never let Guru hang. "Even though BJP had been demanding Guru's hanging, Atal Bihari Vajpayee would have...

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