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NDA back on the track: George Fernandes

     New Delhi: Former Defence Minister and Convenorof the National Democratic Front(NDA) George Fernandes believes the main opposition combine is back on the track following the end of the BJP-RSS crisis over the L.K.Advani leadership issue. Welcoming the outcome, Fernandes told ANI TV that he was confident that the solution reached is not a temporary one, as is being reported in the media. Quoting a comment of a colleague, he said "the engine(NDA) is back on the track and the coaches are being attached. In the media it is said that it is a temporary decision. Some of the RSS leaders also spoke to that effect. I do feel, as the time goes by, the issue can be resolved and whatever misunderstanding there can be removed.I have been in touch with the BJP leaders continously and there is no question about it". He said that both the BJP and the Sangh Parivar ( RSS and its affiliates) have decided to stick together, and this was a move to be welcomed. Fernendes dismissed chances of problems surfacing within the NDA because of a demand by some BJP leaders that the party would return to its Hindutva focus. He said the NDA was a platform in which there were parties of various idealogies. Despite differences in their idealogies, the NDA affiliates could form a government. "In fact, the government was there for the whole term. Earlier also there was a goverment, which we lost by one vote.NDA is not an organisation, which has a kind of idealogy collectively. Each party has has its programme and at the election time , we have a common agenda. So, for the forthcoming election also we will have a common agenda", he said.

      The NDA convenor felt that the BJP-RSS crisis would not have any impact on the coming Bihar polls. "There should be absolutely no reason why there should be any imact. Our party is campaigning there asking the people to give justice", he said and dismissed any justice possible in the president's rule. Fernandes, who visited North Eastern states recently, described the situation there as not very good. He said that insurgency is creating a lot of problem there and mischievous actions are emanating from Bangladesh. Following the recent Supreme Court's decisionon IMDT Act, people , who have come without being a citizen, are worried about their future. "Such people are there for over a period of time. They should have absolutely no reason to be worried or fearsome", he said.

Sena whip to MLAs to attend Assembly (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Shiv Sena has issued a whip demanding all its MLAs to attend the Assembly on Tuesday, failing which they can be disqualified. "The MLAs who stay away will be defying the party whip and we can file a petition with the Speaker," said Gajanan Kirtikar, Chief Whip, Shiv Sena. The move will test the scale of the Narayan Rane rebellion. The 10 Sena MLAs who are supporting Rane have escaped any crackdown by the Sena so far. However the party seems to be reluctant to act against the Rane camp. Sena had 63 MLAs with it. If it looses 10 MLAs than it will have to give up the Leader of the Opposition post to its alliance partner BJP, which has 54 MLAs. Meanwhile, Rane who is being wooed by the Congress as well as the NCP, remains secretive about his plans. "Narayan Rane has been in touch with us for the last two months. In- fact, I had encouraged him to leave the Shiv Sena," said the NCP chief Sharad Pawar, revealing about his own role in the crisis. This is the third split Pawar has engineered in the Sena. In the 80s, Chhagan Bhujbal quit the Sena and joined the NCP. Bhujbal, who has a good following in the OBC votebank, later became the deputy chief minister. In the late 90s, Ganesh Naik quit the Sena to join the NCP. He is now a minister in the Deshmukh government. Later, NCP leader Ajit Pawar said Rane's revolt is a major loss for the Sena. ''Developments show that the Shiv Sena has lost its aggressiveness,'' he said, adding that Rane's grip on other MLAs of the saffron alliance was visible in the House.

Train catches fire in Coimbatore, 1 dies (Go To Top)

     Coimbatore: A general compartment of Cheran Express caught fire this morning at Irugar 15 Km from here. One person has lost his life in the accident, while over 100 other passengers managed to escape safely. According to the Railway sources the train was coming from Chennai to Coimbatore when the fire broke out in a general compartment and a break van of the train. The incident occurred in the train just before reaching the Irugur railway station, at 5.40 in morning. The guard raised an alarm and alerted the driver about fire after noticing the smoke emanating from the toilet. Driver immediately stopped the train, which resulted in saving life of many passengers in the compartment, said sources. Driver and guard then detached the compartment and the break van before the fire spread, sources further informed. According to the sources an inquiry would be soon be ordered into the incident, while the senior Railway and police officials have rushed to the spot. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained yet. The dead body of a person was recovered from the toilet of the compartment. Some passengers however are claiming that the person found dead in the toilet had committed suicide by self- immolation, which is why they think the fire in the train broke out. However there is no conformation for this claim. Fire Fighters reached in no time on the spot from the city who controlled the fire by 6.45 AM, the sources said. The later brought to Coimbatore.

Jayalalithaa's pet secretariat project shelved (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Finally J. Jayalitha has gave in on the issue of her pet project to construct a new complex for the State Secretariat on the Anna University campus on the Marina Beach. The issue which had transformed into a political battle between Jayalalitha and opposition parties in the state has finally been shelved. The state government has conveyed its decision to abandon the project to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which had expressed concern over the adverse fall out of the project. The NHRC had earlier directed the Centre and Tamil Nadu government to give their comments and the action taken report on the recommendations of the jury of a Public hearing in the case conducted by the National Commission for Women held on May 2003. The report of the jury of the public hearing referred to the plan of the state government to convert the Marina beach areas to house foreign embassies, five star hotels and the new Secretariat of the government. The report said it would lead to large scale eviction, denying the livelyhood of fishermen and unorganized women worker sbesides violating the Coastal Regulation Zone. The project would have displaced about one lakh people, it added. The jurors recommended several measures to protect the interest of Chennai Marina Coastal women in their report to the NHRC. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests informed NHRC that most of the points raised come under the jurisdiction of the state government. The Tamil Nadu government later wrote to the Commission saying that the proposal has been dropped and the new secretariat complex would be built elsewhere in the city.

Aishwarya Rai visits Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: A day after the Mumbai police questioned Aishwarya Rai over the alleged taped conversation between her and actor Salman Khan, the actress visited the Siddhivinayak Temple to seek Lord Ganesha's blessings. Rai was accompanied by her parents. She participated in the aarti that went on for about an hour. Her bodyguards later whisked her away before the media could question her on tape scandal. On Monday, police had collected a voice sample of Aishwarya and recorded her statement to determine the authenticity of the audio tape in which actor Salman Khan flaunted his alleged underworld links. The audio tape, released by television channels and whose transcripts were published by a newspaper, claims the voices are of Salman and Aishwarya conversing with each other. In the tape, Khan not only flaunts his connection with the underworld, but also threatens that the mafia could "eliminate" Rai and her family if he so desired. While Bollywood predictably rose to the defence of the two actors, the rest have been speculating on the veracity of the incident. Politicians of Maharashtra are using the incident to make political capital of it. Khan has already denied that the voice on the tape is his, while his brother Sohail has addressed a press conference in which he has said that his brother is being made a scapegoat.

Militants kill six family members in Udhampur (Go To Top)
by Rajneesh Parihan

     Jammu: Some unidentified militants this morning killed six members of a family at Chakoti village of Mahaur Tehsil in Udhampur district. According to sources, police have not yet reached the spot as it takes 10 hours to reach there by foot from Mahaur. The village is 95 kilometres from the district headquarter at Udhampur.

References: NDA George Fernandes, Shiv Sena assembly, train catches fire Coimbatore, Jayalalithaa secretariat project, Aishwarya Rai Mumbai Siddhivinayak temple, militants Udhampur, US sanctions Indian nuclear space facilities, N-deal India US Washington Post, banquet green revolution terrorism UN council text address joint session US Congress, Nicole Kidman scientology, Martha rules, Chris Martin Gwen, Clooney porn star, boy airline boss, Sienna Jude Law, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times, News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival, Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi, Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram, Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai,

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