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After Sonia, Rahul joins Dandi March

     Ahmedabad: Congress MP from Amethi and Gandhi family's heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi, would join the scores of people who are traversing the lanes and by-lanes of Gujarat in a re-enactment of the historic Dandi march by Mahatma Gandhi. Rahul will be joining the march from Anand district, informed party sources. And he will walk what is called the "most arduous" stretch of the march. The 32-year-old MP arrived in Ahmedabad on Saturday evening to join the marchers. The Congress party has supported Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson, in the walk that marks 75 years of the historic march down the same route. Ahmed Patel, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi's political advisor, will accompany Rahul. He is slated to walk 11 km from Kankapura to Mahisagar, where the party will take afternoon rest and later up to Kareli. He will be interacting with Gandhians, freedom fighters and villagers along the way. The march was earlier flagged off by the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on last Saturday by Sonia Gandhi. In the last eight days, the marchers have covered 81 km. More than 200 participants and 78 select marchers will reach the seaside town of Dandi in south Gujarat April 5 after covering 388 km and crossing two major rivers. Aprt from large number of people, many Congress leaders, including Sports Minister Sunil Dutt and former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, have taken part in the rally by walking with the marchers for a day.

Monica Bedi fears torture in India, seeks asylum in Portugal (Go To Top)

     Lisbon: Bollywood actress Monica Bedi, the girlfriend of Abu Salem who is wanted in India in relation to 1993 Bombay blasts, has appealed to the Portugal government to grant asylum to her. She said she fears she will be tortured if returned to India. "I will certainly be tortured. Life does not exist for me in India. People want to kill me, they have carried out protests demanding that I be hung," the Daily Times quoted Monica as saying in an interview with a Lisbon-based paper Expresso. The damsel is facing charges of fleeing to Portugal on a fake passport. Bedi was arrested in Lisbon in September 2002 along with Abu Salem. New Delhi has sought their extradition ever since the two were arrested. Bedi, who has starred in as many as 30 Bollywood movies, has completed a two-year jail sentence in Portugal but has been kept behind bars at a Lisbon jail while her extradition case was processed.

Pakistan releases 533 Indian prisoners (Go To Top)

     Karachi: Pakistan on Sunday has released 529 Indian fishermen and four other prisoners held since last year for illegally fishing in its territorial waters of Arabian Sea. According to The News, the four Indian citizens were detained for illegal entry, which have also been released as a "goodwill gesture" to neighboring India. The fishermen would leave Karachi for Lahore by train later Sunday from where they would be handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah land border crossing on Monday, said sources Sunday.

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