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VHP to distribute 1 lakh Modi speech cassettes
Jaipur, Sept 23 (ANI): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad announced on Monday it will distribute one lakh copies of the cassette containing the speech delivered by Narendra Modi on September 3 allegedly against Muslims. It will help clear all confusion. Addressing a press conference here, International General Secretary of the VHP, Praveen Bhai Togadia said that there was nothing offensive against Muslims in the speech which used only common Gujarati idioms. "VHP will distribute all over the country one lakh copies of the cassette of Modi's speech delivered on September 3 to make the people aware of double standards of so-called secularist parties, including the Congress," He said that since Modi's speech in the cassette was in Gujarati language, it may be dubbed in Hindi or an introductory note incorporated in the copies. Togadia also stressed that the only legal way to solve the Ayodhya tangle was to have a central legislation for constructing the temple. The VHP will hold a 'dharm raksha' rally in Uttar Pradesh on September 29 to keep up pressure for construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he added. (ANI) SC notice to Karnataka on Cauvery water issue
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New Delhi, Sept.23 (ANI): A notice was issued by the Supreme Court to Karnataka government on Monday based on the contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu. The petition was related to the alleged non-release of Cauvery river water as stipulated by the apex court and later by Cauvery River Authority. The three-judge Bench which issued the notice was comprised of Chief Justice BN Kirpal, Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice Arijit Pasayat. It asked the Chief Minister to file his reply by September 30, the next date of hearing. The court also asked Union Government to file an affidavit by September 27 indicating the inflow of Cauvery water into Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu on a daily basis 7 to ascertain whether directives of CRA and itself had been complied with. (ANI) Karnataka issued notice for violating SC orders
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to top New Delhi, Sept 23 (ANI): The Supreme Court issued notices to Karnataka Chief Minister S.M.Krishna and Water Resources Minister S.K.Patil on Monday for violating an order of the court and the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) to release stipulated quantity of river water to Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu filed a contempt petition after Karnataka stopped the flow of water in lower basin following a suicide by a farmer last week. Notice was also served to the state chief secretary and the water resource secretary. Law Minister of Karnataka, A.B.Chandragowda, said the court has asked all four to respond to the contempt petition latest by September 30, the next date of the hearing. "The Supreme Court of India has just now passed an order issuing a notice of contempt for not having obeyed the orders of the Supreme Court as well as CRA. The case is slated on 30th," said Chandragowda. The three-judge bench also directed the federal government to submit the details of the daily inflow of water in Tamil Nadu's Mettur reservoir to ascertain whether the directions of the CRA and the apex court are complied with by September 27. According to an interim order by the Supreme Court, Karnataka should release 1.25 billion cubic feet of water every day into lower basin Tamil Nadu from its reservoirs. The federally administered Cauvery River Authority later lowered Šthe amount of water to be released to 0.8 billion cubic feet a day. But Karnataka activists say its reservoirs will dry up even with the reduction. Karnataka says that more than five lakh hectares of fields would be ruined if more water is released to its neighbour. Warring chief ministers of the two states met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last week. The Cauvery river waters row has been one of the long standing disputes between the four basin states - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry but the latter two are not significantly affected. A shortfall in monsoon rains this year has worsened the dispute.(ANI)
Night patrolling intensified in Kashmir sensitive areas Go to top Jammu, Sept 23 (ANI): Security forces have intensified night patrolling in sensitive areas across Kashmir where the second phase of polling starts on Tuesday. In Jammu, senior police officials personally supervised search operations at busy marketplaces. Security was also stepped up at the city's Raghunath temple which was targeted by militants early this year. Violence has spiralled in the state ever since campaigning began for the poll which New Delhi hopes will bolster the legitimacy of its rule in the disputed region. Islamic separatists have vowed to derail the poll by attacking anyone involved in it. Police officials said Pakistan-based militants are increasingly targeting civilians to scare them from voting. "The Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e- Mohammed organisations have been trying to disrupt the elections from the very beginning. They have been targeting civilians at the behest of the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)," said Dilbagh Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Police of Jammu district. "But security forces with people's cooperation are trying to provide adequate security," he added. Although more than 460 people died in pre-poll violence, the first round of voting on September 16 was largely peaceful. Officials fear violence will increase before counting begins. The second of four rounds of voting is on Tuesday and the last on October 8. Kashmir is at the heart of a nine-month long military standoff between India and Pakistan. The Muslim-majority state has been racked by a separatist revolt Šfor the past 13 years in which more than 35,000 people have been killed.(ANI) BRD Medical College on the verge of closure Go to top Gorakhpur, Sept 23 (ANI): BRD Medical College that caters to the needs of a large number of people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and also from Nepal is on the verge of closure due to shortage of teachers. Seats for Postgraduation have dwindled from 54 to 34 and those for Graduation have gone down from 105 to a mere 50. The reason for this being an alarming lack of teachers. When the College was set up in 1972 , 95 teachers were accepted but now the number has fallen to 50. As a result the number of junior doctors has also came down. The situation is going from bad to worse. Junior doctors decided to hold protest demonstrations in the city and put forth their views to the general public , garnering the much needed support from themselves. They have resorted to "Chakka Jam" and sloganeering. Rajiv Tiwari , President of Junior Doctors Association , BRD College, was downcast when he elaborated, "This condition has been existing for the past 10 years, it is not a new problem. Now active intervention is needed otherwise the College will have to Šbe shut down next month." The Principal,R.B. Verma did not deny the allegation when he said, "Our College does lack teachers. The Centre had formed a society to fill vacant seats but due to a stay order from the Court things did not work out. Some departments which had been allocated a fewer seats are left with less number of seats." The statistics reveal a dismal situation and if nothing is done to rectify the scenario BRD Medical College will soon become non- existent.(ANI)
Vajpayee offers more trade concessions to have-nots
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to top Male, Sept 23 (ANI): Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today attended a state luncheon hosted by Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Vajpayee is here on a three-day state visit. The visit is aimed at renewing the decades old ties with the Island nation. Speaking before the luncheon meeting, the prime minister hailed Malidives' efforts in increasing the level of tourism. Expressing gratitude to the host country for extending the warm welcome, Vajpayee said the two countries would work together in promoting tourism in India. Asserting that growth and development cannot be allowed to remain hostage to "petty political jealousies", Vajpayee said India was willing to unilaterally extend the maximum possible economic and trade concessions to least developed countries within SAARC. In an apparent reference to Pakistan, the Prime Minister without naming it said "some irrational political motivations are hindering efforts for closer economic integration within SAARC. He said there were common perspectives within SAARC and among the nations of the Indian Ocean rim community. "We understand the need for close regional cooperation for poverty alleviation and equitable economic development in our region." During the talks, the two sides agreed to intensify cooperation in information technology, tourism, human resource development, health, infrastructure and other key areas.(ANI)
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