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Former DIG shot dead in train in Bihar

      Patna: A former Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Anil Kumar Singh, was shot dead by dacoits in Rajendra Nagar-Lokmanya Tilak Superfast Express near the Patna Junction on Sunday when he resisted their attempt to loot passengers. The dacoits, armed with guns, also looted cash and valuables from passengers in the train. However, Government of Railway Police (GRP) personnel nabbed the six robbers from Karbigahiya and Mithapur localities during raids following a tip-off. They also seized all the weapons which were used in the murder and looting. Singh, a retired DIG-rank officer and a practicing lawyer of the Patna High Court, was rushed to Patna Medical College Hospital where he died.

BJP satyagraha against terrorism in J-K (Go To Top)

       Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said it would be launching a nine-day 'satyagraha' starting June 7 in Jammu and Kashmir to protest against the "escalation of violence" in the state and demand the handing over of the hilly belts to the Army for effectively tackling militancy. Addressing the media here, former BJP President Venkaiah Naidu said party leaders and activists from different parts of the country would participate in the 'satyagraha' for drawing the attention of the countrymen towards the problems posed by terrorism. "The BJP has decided to take up a nation wide satyagraha to save Doda and to save the country. Doda is a district in Jammu and Kashmir. This satyagraha will start from June 7 and continue till June 15. It will simultaneously start from various parts of the country. Each day one national leaders will lead the satyagraha," said Naidu. About 1200 party activists from Rajasthan and Kerala and an equal number from Jammu and Kashmir will join the satyagraha, he said. Senior BJP leaders, including Venkaiah Naidu, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Vinay Katiyar and Vijay Kumar Malhotra are expected to join the movement. The satyagraha will be followed by formation of human chains by party activists at all district headquarters throughout the country.

Goa stops Da Vinci Code screening (Go To Top)

      Panjim: A movie theatre - Inox - in Goa;s capital Panjim had to cancel screenings of 'The Da Vinci Code' on Sunday after renewed protests against the controversial movie. Goa was the first state in the country to raise the issue of banning the controversial movie though later the State Government did not go ahead with the plan. The movie theatres, however, decided not to screen the Hollywood film. But the Inox theatre started screening the movie from Friday. Today, representatives of various Christian groups held a public meeting here to protest the theatre's move and express their angst. "What I want to know is, who has given the authority over God? Is it priests or Rebeiro (a prominent Catholic who has expressed solidarity with the movie)? Who are they to make fiction out of God and make money? Person is not greater than God," said Churchill Alemao, an MP from Goa. Interestingly, the theatre called off the screening of the movie before the meeting got over. "Now that the demand for the ban has been met, I am most grateful to the government. And, we hope we will be able to have this kind of settlement always, not only for us (Christians) but for all religions; Hindus and Muslims, whenever their religion is threatened, or whenever there is blasphemy, we must all come together," said Ian D' Costa, Member, Catholic Association of Goa.

     Nagaland, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have already banned the film. Early last month, the movie ran into trouble when copies of the book were burnt and protest marches taken out by some fringe Christian groups across the nation, who lobbied to ban the movie in India. The Central government then allowed the screening of the film but with a disclaimer saying it was a work of fiction. "The Da Vinci Code" is based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel of the same name, which depicts Jesus having married his female disciple Mary Magdalene and had a child in her. The adaptation of Brown's best-selling novel has recorded a 224- million dollar global opening. The film's Indian distributors, Sony Picture Releasing, said it had grossed 48.5 million rupees in its opening week across the country.

Call girls racket busted in Delhi (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: A call girls racket was busted on late Saturday night in Delhi when Crime Branch Delhi arrested 13 call girls from a dance bar of Rajdoot hotel on Mathura road. Hotel owner was also arrested but later released on bail for a bailable offence. Crime branch raided the hotel following a tip-off that a call girl racket was being run from the hotel. Police raided Elderado bar located at the basement of the hotel and made the arrests. "These girls have been arrested from the Elderado dancing bar located at the basement of Rajdoot Hotel in Mathura road. We raided the Rajdoot hotel last night around 11:30 after we received a specific information about the call girls racket being run from the hotel," said P P Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Delhi.

    According to Singh, Delhi has become a hideout for the call girls from Bombay. Thousands of call girls have become unemployed in Bombay after the High Court's ban on the dance bars in the State. "Some of the girls are from Bombay who become unemployed and came here after the High Court's order. Delhi is their hideout, they came to Babbu Kalara because he didn't only organises the dance shows but also used to provide lodging and boarding at the hotel rooms," added Singh. Cases have been registered against the call girls under section 294, 109, 34 of IPC act and under section 8 of ITP act. According to the crime branch, Babbu Kalra's father Kishan Lal Kalra and his wife had also been arrested earlier for running a call girls racket from the hotel. Singh further said that Babbu Kalra was released on bail because his offence was bailable. On the other hand call girls could not get the bail as their addresses were not verified and no one came to bail them out as well. According to the police, most of the girls are in this profession for last 5 to 6 years. Out of thirteen, 2 girls are from Nepal, 1 from Allahabad, 1 from Bihar, 2 from Punjab, 2 from Delhi. Husband of one of the girls named Karishma works in same hotel as a telephone operator.

Massive Maoists rally in Kathmandu (Go To Top)

       Kathmandu: In what is being described as the biggest rally in the past three years in Nepal, at least two lakh people took part in a Maoist rally in Kathmandu on Friday. Streets were hung with banners bearing communist slogans and posters of the Maoist leader Prachanda. At the rally, the Maoists demanded the dissolution of the government and elections to a new constituent assembly, said a report in the BBC. The mammoth rally featured folk music and dance displays, characteristic of the Maoists' rural rallies. Hundreds of youths in T-shirts featuring the Maoist leader Prachanda kept the crowd orderly. Hundreds of public transport vehicles were allegedly seized from villages around central Nepal and people compelled to come. "Get rid of the royal regime... We want a republic state," the Maoists chanted as they arrived for the rally. Others told the BBC they had turned up because they wanted to hear the Maoists' social message. Some city hotel owners said they had been pressurised to let out rooms at reduced rates, or that young cadres had been putting up tents in their grounds. Rebel negotiator Krishna Bahadur Mahara addressed the crowd and said the government had been slow to implement a move to hold elections to a constituent assembly. "The present parliament is incapable of representing people's voice so it should be immediately dissolved," he said while speaking at the rally.

    The government tightened security in sensitive areas, and asked the demonstrators not to march towards the royal palace. The government and the rebels have recently agreed to continue the peace process and follow an agreed code of conduct. However, the rebels have already been accused of violating the code. King Gyanendra ended 14 months of absolute rule in April after weeks of pro-democracy protests. The new multi-party government, which was installed only a few weeks back, has been holding talks with the Maoists aimed at ending the 10-year insurgency.

PoK to relocate 55,000 quake survivors (Go To Top)

       Muzaffarabad: With the objective of saving them from monsoon landslides, the Muzaffarabad administration has decided to relocate around 55,000 quake survivors to plain areas, local officials said. "A strategy is being evolved to relocate some 50 to 55 thousand people from areas prone to landslides before the start of monsoon season," the Dawn quoted Muzaffarabad's top administrator Kashif Murtaza as saying. According to him, around 18 villages were likely to be affected by landslides during monsoon. The government would work with the UN and other aid agencies get people out of harm's way, he said and added: "It is a big challenge to relocate the most vulnerable to safer places before the monsoon starts." Depending on how many people need to be resettled the government may have to buy land near Muzaffarabad, he added. The government already pays 25,000 jobless survivors a monthly benefit of Rs3,000 rupees under a six-month grant programme.