Sushil Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, was given a breather by the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, even as the rebellion by a section of legislators against Modi showed no signs of abating.The party's top brass met in New Delhi for over three hours to discuss the issue and opted to make a last-ditch effort to avert the crisis before taking any decision. "I have invited senior leaders from the state to know what they have to say," said Rajnath Singh.
There has been no headway in the Jaipur serial bomb blasts that left over 60 persons dead and nearly 150 injured, says Gulab Chand Kataria, Rajasthan's Home Minister.
Former foreign minister in the Atal Bihari government Jaswant Singh said that if voted to power the National Democratic Alliance would continue the process of holding dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and simuatenously engage the All Party Hurriyat Conference as was done during Vajpayee's tenure as prime minister.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's decision to stay away from the Bharatiya Janata Party national executive in New Delhi took away glamour from the meet. Newsmen who were looking for an opportunity to quiz her in the wake of her confrontation with the Gujjar leader Col Bhainsla were disappointed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday began investigations in the sensational murders of 14-year-old Aarushi and her domestic help Hemraj in Noida last month and formed a 25-member team in a bid to crack the case. After re-registering the case filed by Noida police, the team visited the scene of crime and spoke to some of the kin of the deceased besides interacting with the Noida police officers who were probing the twin murder.
The Congress is in introspective mood, especially after the Karnataka debacle. The Congress Working Committee which met in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the poll drubbing has decided to form committees to suggest ways to revive the party.
Vikas and Vishal Yadav, convicted in the sensational Nitish Katara murder case earlier this week, were were given the life sentence by a Delhi court on May 30. They have been also been fined Rs 1 lakh each. Though the judgment was to have passed in the morning, but it was deferred till the evening. Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav were convicted earlier this week.
Members of the Gujjar community, who had threatened to take their agitation to New Delhi, blocked the various national highways leading to Delhi on Thursday and staged massive traffic blockades at various places. The Centre has deployed over 45,000 officers and men of paramilitary forces to prevent any untoward incidents during the agitation by Gujjars, who have been demanding Scheduled Tribe status for their community.The protestors blocked the Delhi-Gazipur Road.
A Delhi court on Wednesday held Vikas, son of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and his cousin Vishal guilty for the murder of Nitish Katara. The court is likely to pronounce the quantum of sentence, which may range from life term to the death penalty, on Friday.Katara, a 24-year-old business executive and son of a senior bureaucrat in Delhi, was involved in a relationship with Vikas's sister Bharati. Katara's battered and bruised body was found in February, 2002.
When asked if it would not be good for farmers as they would be rid of an anti-farmer government, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said that the farmers would continue to die as there would be nobody to save them.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday he had asked for withdrawal of the SBI circular on stopping loans for purchase of tractor and other farm equipments, as it was poorly worded and not justified. State Bank of India on Wednesday withdrew instructions to its branches advising them to stop fresh loans for purchase of tractors and other farm equipment, since defaults on these had mounted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has expressed surprise at news reports that a country like Bangladesh, too, has an anti-terror law.
Ved Marwah, former commissioner of police Delhi and former National Security Gurads chief, felt the Jaipur blasts was not the end of the problem. "With the election year round the corner this is bound to go up. Our neighbours will to continue to play mischief and is not going to give it up. My gut feeling is that we have to sort out this problem within the country and not with Pakistan. Once we do that, these attacks would disappear automatically," Marwah told rediff.com.
Adressing a press conference in Shastri Bhavan, Sibal said that his ministry had been working on the project for last two years. "The project would cost us about Rs 20 crore and we are confident that this would come down to Rs 10 crore once it is fully operational," he said.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Thursday briefed the Union Cabinet about the latest developments in the investigations in the Jaipur bomb blasts. Finance Minister P Chidambaram briefed the media after the Cabinet meeting, which was headed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Chidambaram did not give any details about Narayanan's briefing. The former chief of the Intelligence Bureau reportedly briefed the Cabinet about the modus operandi adopted by the terrorists.
Minister of state for home affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal said that the centre would help Rajasthan goverment to ensure that the IPL matches go on without hindrance.
Menon said he would not like to jump to any conclusion as to which terrorist group was behind the Jaipur bomb blasts. Asked if the government of India was taken by surprise by the series of bomb blasts that shook Jaipur on Tuesday night particularly when it came after firing from across the border from the Pakistani Rangers and the killing of innocent persons in Samba sector in Jammu resign, the foreign secretary said that peace and security would be high on the agenda.
'Ever since the UPA came to power, barring making statements that they are committed to fighting terrorism, it is not being said in actions,' says senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.
Yashwant Sinha, former external affairs minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, has been admitted to Modi Seva Sadan in Ranchi and is reported to be stable and conscious. BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Sinha may have felt weak due to the heat at a gathering in Ranchi, adding that he was better and fully conscious.
"Sangma is a member of the NCP and its leadership should take note of the statement and take action against him," Bardhan said while replying to a question asked by this rediff.com correspondent at a hurriedly called press conference at Ajay Bhavan in New Delhi. Bardhan lambasted Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for claiming that 0.04 per cent rise in the inflation amounted to nothing.
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