Punjab and Haryana have been rocked by violence in the wake of the death of Sant Rama Nand, a leader of the Ravidassi sect, at the Guru Ravidass Gurudwara in Vienna. The protests have virtually brought life to a complete halt in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Jagadhri.According to reports, some members of the Sikh community objected to the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib during the preaching by Sant Niranjan Das at the gurudwara.
"I have seen visuals on television, which indicate that a lot needs to be done. Members of Parliament from the affected areas will get back to us with updates," Chidambaram said, virtually ruling out sending any official delegation to the state.
Sant Rama Nand, the head of a Dera sect, died early on Monday morning after being shot in a clash between two groups of Sikh worshippers at a gurdwara in Vienna.At least 11 people, including Sant Niranjan Dass, another Dera chief, were injured when the two groups clashed with knives and a handgun.The fight erupted following a dispute over the sermon given by a priest from Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha.
"I am glad." That is how former external affairs Yashwant Sinha reacted to Prachanda's resignation as Nepal Prime Minister. Sinha was addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.
Avtar Singh Makkar, the president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeking permission to visit the Taliban-dominated Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, to assess the condition of the Sikh families residing in those areas. Makkar's request comes in the wake of reports about the residences of Sikh families being razed for the non-payment of jazia.
Abdullah faced an embarrassing situation at the annual day function of the Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences in Jammu, as an awardee refused to accept an award from him. Not only this, the awardee then used the platform to air the grievances of student community, much to the chagrin of CM.
Bhartiya Janata Party secretary Arun Jaitley told media persons on Friday that the government of India was determined not to allow holding of IPL tournament till the last week of May.
"BJP disassociates and disapproves the contents of the speech and the comments attributed to Varun Gandhi. We have not received any notice from the Election commission on the issue," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi as the saffron party distanced itself from the controversy.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat said though All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalitha could not join the meeting of leaders belonging to the Third Front but she was very much in touch with them."In fact she approved of the six point charter that formed the basis of Sunday's discussion," Karat said while addressing a press conference at the release of the first part of party's election manifesto in New Delhi.
Samajvadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh has accepted an offer from Dev Anand to star in the filmmaker's next venture.
Declaring that the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Third Front would be decided after the elections, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati hosted a dinner for the leaders of the grouping and resolved to defeat the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Deomocratic Alliance.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley believes that only politicians should work as the office bearers of the state associations so that they can rescue an important event like Indian Premier League from collapsing due to security concerns.
BJP on Friday announced candidates for 46 more Lok Sabha seats from the states of Kerala, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Sikkim. After the breakup of its alliance with the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, BJP announced the names of seven Lok Sabha candidates from the state. It also announced 43 names for the assembly election scheduled along with the Lok Sabha polls. Five candidates from Kerala were also announced today by the party.
"Now it is a ground zero situation. The people of Orissa would hit back and give a befitting reply to Patnaik and his party for the betrayal. The BJP occupies the non-Congress space in Orissa," Javedekar added.
Under the aegis of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the ministry has set up a special cell that would monitor movement of the Talibans. There are reports that Talibans are just 25 kilometers away from the international border in Punjab and could move in towards the border.
The Bhartiya Janata Party would spend Rs 35 crore, sending SMSes to the electorate to woo them. The party described the turn about by Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik as "most unfortunate."
The Third Front will be a major force in the next Lok Sabha polls, says Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Niloptal Basu.
Keen to ensure that the five priceless personal belongings of Mahatma Gandhi do not fall into the hands of a foreigner, the government worked on various options, one of which bore fruit as the bid was won through business tycoon Vijay Mallya.
After a marathon meeting of its Central Election Committee, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the names of some senior women leaders, who will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. The names include Sushma Swaraj from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, Yashodhara Raje from Gwalior, Sumitra Mahajan from Indore, Karuna Shukla from Korba, Kamla Patle from Jangir-Champa, J Shanthi from Bellary and Bindu Chaudhary from Nagpur.
Union Home secretary Madhukar Gupta confirmed that the government is in touch with officials of the Indian Premier League to work out a schedule for the upcoming Twenty20 tournament that does not clash with the Lok Sabha elections. Sources said various security agencies have suggested that there should be no IPL matches days before and after polling dates in cities where the franchisees are based.
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