THE HEADLINES:-
- US President Barack Obama says, the acts of religious intolerance in India would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi.
- Congress bounces back in the Rajasthan Panchayat elections; wins two thousand four hundred eighty and three Samiti seats against two thousand nine hundred and fifty five by the BJP.
- Supreme Court says, election of candidates who conceal their criminal antecedents should be declared null and void.
- New Delhi asks Islamabad to focus on its own problems instead of meddling in India's internal affairs.
- And, In the National Games, the boxing events begin today;prominent boxers including Vijender Singh, Sarjubala Devi, and Sumit Sangwan not in the fray.
<><><>
US President Barack Obama has said that the acts of intolerance experienced by religious faiths of all types in India in the past few years would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi. The US President, who has just returned to the US from India, was referring to violence against followers of various religions in India in the past few years. He, however, did not name any particular religion and said the violence is not unique to one group or one religion. In his remarks at the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast, Mr. Obama said, humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. In his address in New Delhi on January 27, the last day of his India trip, Mr. Obama had made a strong pitch for religious tolerance, cautioning that India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith. The White House yesterday strongly refuted allegations that Obama's remarks on religious tolerance was aimed at the ruling BJP, saying the speech in its entirety was about the "core democratic values and principles"of both the US and India.
<><><>
In Rajasthan, out of 33 Zila Parishads, the results of 21 have been declared. BJP has bagged 14 and Congress won 7 Parishads. Results of 674 out of 1014 seats for zila parishad have been declared. BJP has won 408 seats followed by Congress with 253 seats. Results of 6038 panchyat samiti seats out of 6236 is also available. The BJP has bagged 2955, Congress 2483, independent 534, CPIM 39 and the BSP 26 seats.
<><><>
Chief Election Commissioner HS Brahma has said that all arrangements have been put in place to ensure free and fair Assembly polling in Delhi tomorrow. In an exclusive interview to All India Radio, Mr. Brahma said, tampering of electronic voting machines, EVMs is impossible. He said, voters can exercise their franchise safely.
Our EVM machines are 100 percent foolproof. Nobody can play mischief and if anybody wants to play mischief, there is adequate institutional safeguard like you have a first level check when political parties are there, engineers are there. Then after the everything 2-3 times checking, on the day of polling also, when we are going to polls on 7th of February at 8 a.m., our people will be there by 5.30 a.m. - 6 o'clock.
Campaigning for the Assembly elections ended yesterday evening. A total of 673 candidates including 63 women are in the fray for the 70-Member Assembly. More from our correspondent.
Over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the fate of 673 candidates in the fray for the elections. Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Chandra Bhusan Kumar said, about twelve thousand polling stations have been set up across the city for polling. Out of which 714 have been identified as critical and 191 are highly critical. There are 63 contesting women candidates in this election as against 71 in 2013. More than 2 lakh 27 thousand first time youth electors will also cast their vote. Election commission said that there are 311 electors over the age of 100 years. 95 thousand government officials have been roped in for election duty. Adequate numbers of security personnel will also be deployed at all polling booths to ensure smooth conduct of the polling process. WITH DIPENDRA KUMAR THIS IS SAIRA MUJTABA , AIRNEWS, DELHI.
<><><>
The Delhi Metro will start operations at 4 AM tomorrow, the day of polling for Delhi Assembly elections. Trains will run at an interval of 30 minutes till 5.30 AM on all its lines. The frequency will increase and trains will start running as per the normal schedule after 5.30 AM.
<><><>
The Supreme Court has held that the election of a candidate, who has concealed his or her criminal antecedents during the nomination process, should be declared null and void. The apex court ruled that the suppression of criminal antecedents, especially relating to heinous crimes, by a candidate during nomination deprived voters to make an informed choice and created impediments in the free exercise of electoral right. Such an election is liable to be rejected. The judgement was delivered in a case relating to non-disclosure of full particulars of criminal cases pending against a candidate, Krishnamoorthy, who was elected as the President of the Thekampatti Panchayat, Mettupalayam Taluk in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu in 2006.
<><><>
The Karnataka High Court has partially accepted BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's application seeking permission to implead himself in AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's appeal against her conviction in the disproportionate assets case. Special bench of the court allowed Swamy to assist the Special Public Prosecutor, but denied him permission to present his arguments in the case. Justice CR Kumaraswamy, however, dismissed DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan's prayer to intervene and assist the Special Public Prosecutor in the case.
<><><>
The number of deaths due to swine flu rose to 27 in Maharashtra with death of a 43-year-old woman in Pune yesterday. Nagpur has been affected worst by the pandemic with 15 deaths recorded in the city. Over all 113 people are being treated for swine flu in the state with the maximum number of people from Nagpur region. A senior official said there have been 23 positive cases of swine flu in Mumbai out of which four people have lost their lives.
<><><>
In Gujarat, swine flu claimed 9 more lives yesterday taking the total number of deaths due to H1N1 virus to 62 this year. The State Health Department said, while three persons died in Kutch, two in Ahmedabad and one each from Anand, Valsad, Bharuch and Navsari districts. 61 people also tested positive for swine flu, taking the total number of H1N1 cases in the state to 476. Our correspondent reports that Kutch district is the worst-affected with 169 positive cases and 22 deaths till now.
State Health Minister Nitin Patel has said that state government is taking all the necessary steps to control the situation. 162 swine flu patients had been cured and discharged from hospitals. Extra attention is being given on Kutch district and a senior officer had sent there to monitor the situation. A hi-tech laboratory is being set up at Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Science Hospital in Bhuj for early diagnosis of swine flu. 500 beds and 236 isolation wards with ventilators had been kept reserved for swine flu patients at various hospitals in the state. Yogesh Pandya, AIR News, Ahmedabad.
And In Haryana, so far 65 cases of swine flu have come to light out of which 10 persons have died so far.
<><><>
New Delhi has asked Islamabad to focus on its problems that are afflicting them instead of meddling in India's internal affairs. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said this while replying to a media query about rallies and speeches made by various parties and groups including the banned terrorist outfit Jamat-ud-Dawa reportedly marking so called Kashmir Solidarity Day in Pakistan. Mr Akbaruddin said that Pakistan should not covet what is not theirs and will never be. The spokesman also termed such activities by Pakistan leaders and unsavoury elements as a futile quest for territorial power in Jammu and Kashmir.
<><><>
The Centre has directed all the ministries to ensure that all Additional Secretary-level officers are relieved soon after their tenures are over. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued directive to central government secretaries in this regard. It has also asked them to ensure on a priority basis that vacancy or posts are regularly updated on an electronic system to process appointments in the government departments. It said, officers coming from their parent cadre and appointed directly as Additional Secretary at the Centre will get a tenure of four years. The order said that the directive comes after it came to notice that officers appointed as Additional Secretary or equivalent levels working under various ministries are not being relieved on time.
<><><>
Sri Lanka’s newly elected President, Maithripala Sirisena will visit India on his first overseas tour from the 15th of this month. President Sirisena’s four day tour will include official engagements in New Delhi and a visit to Bodh Gaya and Tirupati. According to a statement issued by President Sirisena’s office last night, he will meet President Pranab Mukherjee and hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
<><><>
At the 35th National Games being held in Kerala, Services continues to be on top of the medals tally with 31 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze medals. Haryana is in the second position with 25 gold medals, 11 silver and seven bronze medals. Maharashtra is in the third place with 22 gold, 25 silver and 18 bronze medals. Hosts Kerala is in the fourth position with 13 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze medals.
Meanwhile,prominent boxing stars Olympian Vijender Singh,Sarjubala Devi, Preeth Beniwal and Sumit Sanguan have withdrawn from the National games boxing events.This follows difference a of opinion between Boxing India and the Indian Olympic Association. Boxing events are scheduled to begin today.
National champion Himanshu Kumar Chang of Uttar Pradesh came up with a record-breaking show in the weightlifting Plus 105 kilogram category, to win gold. In the women's weightlifting 75 kilogram category, Kavita Devi of Haryana won a gold medal.
Kerala's Sajan Prakash continued his golden run, winning the 800 metre freestyle swimming, his fifth individual gold medal,with a new Games record.
[]><><><[]
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
- With the campaign din subsiding just before the crucial day of polling in the national capital, Hindustan Times writes "Delhi calms down before big vote", and - "Countdown for D-day begins", headlines the Statesman.
- The Asian Age reports - In a landmark ruling on decriminalizing politics and ensuring probity in public life, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that suppressing information in the nomination form by a candidate - on pending criminal or corruption cases - may be ground to set aside his or her election to Panchayats, State legislatures or Parliament.
- On his second visit to India, Asian Development Bank PresidentTAKEHIKO NAKAO has commended India for opening up, saying the Indian Government is 'delivering' on the promise to turn red-tape into a red carpet for investors, listing - faster environment clearances for projects, increased foreign investment limits in many sectors and Land Acquisition Law amendments as major achievements, reports The Economic Times.
- Papers carry pictures of Christians protesting against the recent attacks on churches, outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi on Thursday. The Hindu reports that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the government would not tolerate any discrimination on the basis of caste or religion and directed the Delhi Police to ensure security of Churches and other places of worship.
- The Times of India writes that the JD(u) government in Bihar plunged into a crisis on Thursday after Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi opposed party Chief Sharad Yadav's bid to replace him with Nitish Kumar at the helm. The paper also reports that Sitaram Yechury is likely to take over as the fifth general Secratary of the CPM in April - from Prakash Karat, who demits office at the end of 3 terms.
- And finally, the Times of India writes that a Buddhist academic has said that a 200 year old mummified monk - discovered in Mangolia seated in the meditative 'lotus position' may not be dead, but in a very deep spritual state called 'Tukdam' and that Forensic examinations are being carried out on him.
[]><><><[]
