THE HEADLINES:
- Stage set for crucial assembly elections in Delhi tomorrow; Security beefed up to ensure peaceful voting.
- In Bihar, infighting in the ruling Janta Dal(U) deepens; Supporters of Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi and Nitish Kumar clash.
- Union Minister Arun Jaitley rejects U.S. President's remarks on religious intolerance; Says aberrations cannot alter India's history of tolerance.
- Delhi High Court enhances sentence of Vikas and Vishal Yadav to 30 years in the Nitish Katara murder case; turns down plea for death sentence.
- Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade gets prestigious Gnanpith award for 2014.
- In the National Games: Gymnast Dipa Karmakar bags five individual gold medals; Services continue to top medals tally.
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The stage is set for polling for the 70-member Delhi assembly tomorrow. All arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair polling. Over 1.33 crore electorate will decide the future of 673 candidates. Voting will start at eight in the morning and continue till six in the evening. Our Correspondent reports that 12,177 polling stations have been set up in the city and security has been beefed up.
714 polling stations have been declared as critical and 191 as highly critical. Each assembly constituency has a model polling booth. Around 55 thousand police personnel have been deployed for hassle free voting. The parties including Congress, BJP, Aam Aadmi Party, BSP, NCP and Left Parties have fielded their candidates in this election. Anupam Mishra, AIR News, Delhi.
Voters working in any business, trade, industrial undertaking and other establishments will be granted a paid holiday tomorrow so that they can cast votes. Delhi Metro train and DTC bus services will be available from four in the morning.
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Aam Aadmi Party today distanced itself from the offer of support of Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari in the Delhi Assembly elections. Talking to media in New Delhi, party leader Sanjay Singh said that AAP does not share the ideology of Imam Bukhari.
In his reaction, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, the correct answer to such fatwas is that those who are opposed to them should vote in large numbers.
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The BJP today said the assembly elections in Delhi is a fight between the party that stands for governance and the party of what it called anarchist, making an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, party leader and Union Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the suggestions that the outcome of polls will be a referendum on the performance of the Narendra Modi government at the center.
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Delhi Police has foiled a bid to disrupt free and fair polls in the national capital with the arrest of nine members of a dreaded criminal gang. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjeev Yadav said that all the accused had come to the city to exercise muscle power in favour of a Congress candidate.The police has recovered five firearms and two four wheelers form their possession.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India must take advantage of current global environment to develop fast and meet the aspirations of the people. Interacting with the eminent economists at the National Institute for Transforming India, NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Mr Modi spoke about the government`s recent initiatives. He emphasized on the need for cooperative federalism, and added that he favoured healthy competition for development among states. Speaking to the media, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said that the Prime Minister sought the suggestions of economists on developmental issues.
These were also in relation to the financing of infrastructure, how to attract investment and how to boost domestic savings, fate of the agricultural sector particularly was discussed and how poverty levels can be brought down.
The interaction took place ahead of the first meeting of the newly created NITI Aayog which replaced the nearly six decade old Planning Commission. The first meeting of the Aayog is scheduled on Sunday.
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In Bihar, supporters of Nitish Kumar and Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi clashed amid a power struggle between the two ruling Janata Dal United, JD(U), leaders. A fight broke between them outside the party's State headquarters in Patna, ahead of a legislature party meeting called by party chief Sharad Yadav tomorrow where Manjhi is likely to be replaced by Kumar.
JD(U) sources said some people under the banner of Dalit Musahar Chetna Samiti assembled outside the party office, shouted slogans and burnt effigy of Nitish Kumar. They also allegedly attacked some people believed to his supporters. Patna Senior Superintendent of Police, Jitendra Rana said police force has been deployed there after the incident.
Meanwhile, security at the hotel where JD(U) president Sharad Yadav is staying has been enhanced in view of the gathering of a large number of slogan-shouting Manjhi supporters. Over half-a-dozen JD(U) MLAs sat on dharna to protest against violence in front of JD(U) headquarters in the day.
In a fighting mood, Manjhi described tomorrow's meeting called by JD(U) president as unauthorised and instead has called a meeting of legislators at his residence on 20th of this month.
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Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taken the issue of the Vision Document seriously where people of North East were mentioned as immigrants. Talking to newsmen in Guwahati, Gogoi said that, it was an insult to the people of North East and not a mere case of a printing mistake.
Union Water Resource Minister Uma Bharati who is in Guwahati said that they would tender an apology thousand times to the people of North East on this issue. Meanwhile, protest continues in Assam on the vision document issue.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today rejected US President Barack Obama's remarks that the acts of intolerance experienced by religious faiths of all types in India in the past few years would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi. Replying to a media query in New Delhi, Mr. Jaitley said the country has a history of religious tolerance and any aberration cannot alter it.
India has a huge cultural history of tolerance. Any observations don't alter that history and the best example of tolerance was sitting next to President Obama, that is H.H. The Dalai Lama, when the statement was made.
The US president had made the remarks during a prayer breakfast event .
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Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that no one is insecure in the country no matter which religion he or she belongs to as religious tolerance is innate to Indian culture. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Uttarakhand, he said inclusiveness and the spirit of peaceful coexistence are the most outstanding features of India's cultural heritage.
On the recent attacks on Churches in Delhi, the Home Minister assured that stern action will be taken against those indulging in such activities.
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The Delhi high court today enhanced the conviction period of Vikas Yadav, Vishal Yadav and contract killer Sukhdev Pehalwan in the Nitish Katara murder case. A special bench of Justice Gita Mittal and Justice JR Midha sentenced Vikas Yadav son of politician D P Yadav, and his cousin Vishal to 30 years in prison. The jail term of another convict Sukhdev Pehelwan has been increased to 25 years. The High Court however rejected the prosecution's plea for death penalty to them.
The enhanced period of sentence includes an additional 5 year-jail term to all three convicts for destruction of evidence in the case. All of them will have to undergo rigorous imprisonment without any remission behind bars except for the additional five years.
The court also imposed a penalty of 50 lakh rupees each on Vikas, and Vishal for the murder.
According to the prosecution, Vikas and Vishal killed Nitish Katara on the night of February 17, 2002, after abducting him from a marriage party in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, as they were opposed to his friendship with their sister.
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Eminent Marathi littérateur Bhalachandra Nemade has been selected for the prestigious Gnanpith award for the year 2014. He will be the 50th recipient of the award. Mr Nemade occupies a unique place in Marathi literature and his hugely celebrated works include novels Kosala and Hindu. He has also been conferred with Padma Shri and Sahitya Academi award.
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In Telangana, two more persons succumbed to swine flu taking the number of deaths due to H1N1 since January to 41. However, the state health and family welfare authorities have said the swine flu intensity has come down in the past few days. Meanwhile 20 more cases of swine flu have been reported.
In Andhra Pradesh five persons died and over 40 persons have been infected by the virus since January this year.
In Maharashtra, the number of deaths due to swine flu in the state has risen to 29, with two of the victims being from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and one from Andhra. The number of swine flu patients has risen to 135 with 22 new cases registered today. Nagpur has been the worst affected with 62 positive cases followed by Pune which recorded 48 cases.
Meanwhile, the Centre today reviewed the preparedness of states affected by H1N1 virus or Swine flu and has assured all assistance to deal with the disease. Additional Health Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Panda through video conferencing in New Delhi took stock of the situation with health officials from states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
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In Rajasthan, of the 33 Zila Parishad, the results of 29 has been declared. BJP got a majority in 20 and Congress in 9. According to state election commission, out of 295 Panchyat Samitis, BJP got a clear majority in 140. Congress bagged 91 and CPIM won in one panchyat samiti.
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Falling for the sixth straight day, Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange declined 133 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 28,718. The Sensex also posted its worst weekly loss, of 465 points, in nearly two months. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange dropped 51 points, to 8,661.
But the rupee appreciated 4 paise, to 61.69 against the dollar, on dollars selling by banks and exporters.
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Prasar Bharati Chairman Dr A Surya Prakash today appreciated the role of All India Radio and Doordarshan in informing and educating the people across the country. Interacting with the officials of News Services Division of All India Radio at New Broadcasting House, Dr Surya Prakash said, he is looking forward to further strengthening the reach of news broadcasts. He said, he is in favour of synergy between AIR and DD to improve the quality and content of news.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the killing of Jordanian pilot by ISIS terrorists. In a letter to King of Jordan Abdullah-II Ibn Al-Hussein, Mr Modi said, he is deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the brutal killing of Flight Lt Muath al-Kasasbeh. The Prime Minister said, the incident is a stark reminder that the persisting menace of terrorism and extremism continues to remain a formidable challenge for the global community.
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In the National Games, Tripura girl Dipa Karmakar won all five gold in Gymnastics women's category. Rakesh Kumar Patra with three gold medals became men's gymnastic champion.
Services top the medals tally with 37 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. Mahrashtra with 25 gold, 29 silver and 20 bronze is placed second on the table. Haryana with 25 gold, 13 silver and 6 bronze is in third position while hosts Kerala with 14 gold, 12 silver and 18 bronze is in fourth.
In Gymnastics, Dipa Karmakar excelled with a total of five gold medals for Tripura clinching the yellow metal in individual all-round, table-vault, balancing beam, uneven parallel bars and floor exercises.
In National Games' football tournament, Santosh Trophy champion Mizoram today entered semi-finals.
At the shooting range, the Services' guns were on target in both the team and individual competitions of the men's 50 meter rifle 3 position event.
With R.N.Banerjee, Zakir Malik, Sports Desk.
