NCP raped Maharashtra for 14 years: Raj Thackeray

JALNA (MAHARASHTRA): Renewing his attack on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Maharashtra NavnirmanSena chief Raj Thackeray Saturday accused the SharadPawar-led party of "raping" Maharashtra for the past 14 years. "The NCP is holding all the crucial departments, home, irrigation, power and roads since 14 years. But what have they done so far? The NCP has raped the state," Thackeray said at...

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Ramdev's land row: Himachal govt offers out of court settlement

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday offered an "out of court" settlement with yoga teacher Ramdev on the issue of cancellation of land leased to his trust. "Himachal Pradesh government is not averse to out of the court settlement with yoga teacher Ramdev on the cancellation of land leased to Patanjali Yogapeeth in case the Yogapeeth Trust makes any such offer," state revenue minister...

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Manik Sarkar, son of tailor, to be Tripura chief minister again

AGARTALA: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, set to assume office for a fourth time after leading the Left to a huge electoral win, is the son of a tailor who still washes his own clothes.An unassuming man, the 64-year-old got down to work no soon than he was declared the winner from Dhanpur constituency. He met CPM leaders and activists at Sonamura, 60km from here. On Thursday, the Communist...

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Ishrat encounter case: Fifth Gujarat cop arrested

AHMEDABAD: The CBI arrested one more Gujarat policeman in connection with the alleged fake encounter killing of Mumbai teenager Ishrat Jahan and three others by Ahmedabad Crime Branch in 2004. Anaju Chaudhary, a commando with State Reserve Police Force, was arrested here late last night, making him the fifth policeman to be taken into custody in the nine-year-old case. He was then deputed to protect...

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Pak troops violate ceasefire to provide cover fire to militant; Army kills intruder

JAMMU: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire on Tuesday to provide cover fire to a militant who was gunned down in a fierce gunbattle with security forces along the line of control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. "At around 1.45pm, troops guarding the borderline observed suspicious movements at Keri sector in Rajouri," PRO defence SN Acharya said. Immediately the entire area was cordoned...

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Hyderabad blasts: NIA's claim baseless, alleges Bukhari

RAMPUR: Delhi's Jama Masjid chief cleric Syed Ahmed Bukhari has said investigation agencies have the tendency to name perpetrators of any bomb blasts in the country much before initiation and conclusion of their probes. Referring to the recent Hyderabad blasts, Bukhari said the National Investigation Agency's claim that the evidence pointed towards involvement of the Indian Mujahideen in the...

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No permission for Ramdev's rally in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: The plan of Yoga teacher Ramdev to hold a rally in Solan district today received a setback after district administration refused to give permission for the February 27 meeting. "We had changed the venue from Sadhupul to Solan and assured that the rally would be completely peaceful, but surprisingly, the MC Solan has declined to give permission for holding the rally at Thodo ground on February...

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Photography at bathing ghats banned at Kumbh

ALLAHABAD: The Kumbh Mela administration on Saturday banned photography at all bathing ghats at the religious congregation, officials said. Vide a letter ST/SSP/C-14/2013 dated February 21, the senior superintendent of police (Kumbh) has directed all policemen and other security personnel on duty in the mela premises to ensure that no one was allowed to click pictures at bathing ghats. Throwing the...

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We are attacking problems across value chain of power sector: Scindia

The responsibility of lighting up the country today rests on the young shoulders of Jyotiraditya Scindia. Just three months into his new job, the power minister has set an electric pace to energise the sector. He shares his vision with ToI in a freewheeling interview with Sanjay Dutta: About 24,000 mw gas-fired generation capacity is idling due to domestic gas shortage. This is threatening to turn...

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Hyderabad blasts: NIA, NSG teams flying to blast site, home secretary says

NEW DELHI: Elite teams of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the National Security Guard (NSG) will be flying to Hyderabad, which has been rocked by twin blasts that killed 10 people and injured 50, an official said. "We have a news of two blasts. We have spoken to state chief secretary, DGP (director general of police) and governor (E.S.L. Narasimhan)," Home secretary R.K. Singh told reporters...

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Railways needs high speed freight corridor to compete with road transport: IFTRT

CHENNAI: The Railways need to introduce mass level exclusive parcel goods trains across the country to provide fast, safe, time bound service, said a latest report by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTRT).The Railways should set up retail cargo booking and delivery outlets in collaboration with private entrepreneurs in commercial centres, markets and industrial areas...

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Tamil Nadu parties slam 'brutal killing' of Prabhakaran's son; Lanka says video 'half-truth'

CHENNAI: Leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu strongly condemned the alleged cold-blooded killing of the 12-year-old son of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, purportedly featured by UK-based Channel 4, and demanded action against the Sri Lankan government.MDMK leader Vaiko demanded an international inquiry into the killing of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka and said the forthcoming UN Human...

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Court issues production warrant for Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday sought before it the presence of sitting Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala in a disproportionate assets case in which he is an accused.Special CBI Judge Manu Rai Sethi issued the production warrant for Chautala for March 5 as he was not brought to the court from jail, where he is lodged after he was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in another corruption case. CBI had...

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Lokpal, right to reject can eliminate graft: Anna Hazare

HYDERABAD: Declaring that he would mobilize six crore people over next one and a half years for his anti-graft campaign, Anna Hazare on Sunday said Jan Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption and called for comprehensive electoral reforms and empowering of village-level bodies.Addressing a public meeting, he said his fight was for changing the entire system and called upon youths to join hands with...

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Irish hospital's doctors failed to treat Savita Halappanavar, leaked death probe report says

LONDON: Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died as a result of a litany of failures by hospital staff, a leaked draft of a probe report said, proving her family's claim that her death was avoidable. The report by Ireland's health ministry revealed that doctors caring for the 31-year-old dentist seriously failed to investigate, recognize and treat the infection which led to her death. Savita died...

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PM extols Sonia in Meghalaya rally

SHILLONG: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday urged the people of the poll-bound state to extend their support to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi even as he promised to empower tribal governing bodies and improve women's representation in decision-making administrative units in matrilineal Meghalaya."Under the guidance of Sonia Gandhi, the UPA has been working hard for inclusive development of not only...

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Chopper scam: Ex-air chief SP Tyagi used to brief us on tender developments, claim middlemen

NEW DELHI: The alleged middlemen in the deal for VVIP helicopters have claimed that the then Air chief SP Tyagi used to brief them on the developments in the tender, according to Italian investigators.Haschke and Gerosa have reportedly claimed that Tyagi would keep them updated on the tender for the 12 helicopters during their meetings, which are believed to have taken place six to seven times.They...

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Afzal Guru's family lawyers quit

NEW DELHI: Citing "unseemly controversies", ND Pancholi and Nandita Haksar Wednesday quit as the family lawyers of Afzal Guru, the parliament attack convict who was hanged here Feb 9. "There have arisen unseemly controversies and we do not wish to be part of these discussions," Pancholi and Haksar said in a statement. The duo were representing Guru's family members who have asked Tihar jail authorities...

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No merger with anyone, Raj Thackeray responds to Uddhav's offer

MUMBAI: Ruling out merger with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray today said he had no intention of aligning with anybody. Speaking at a rally in Maharashtra's Kolhapur town, Raj said, "There is no thought now of any alliance. Do talks of alliance happen through newspapers?" He was making a veiled reference to Uddhav's "merger offer" made through...

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Suspend, book cops who 'detained' Gilani: Katju

NEW DELHI: Slamming the police for "detaining" journalist Iftikhar Gilani on Sunday, Press Council of India chairman Markanday Katju on Monday asked Union home secretary to charge and suspend the cops if the allegations of "high-handedness" against them were correct. In a letter to the home secretary RK Singh , Justice Katju also sought immediate institution of criminal proceedings against such officers...

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