Excelsior... Nation

Jayalalitha

Channa Reddy, I stand
vindicated, says Swamy

MADURAI, Oct 9: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, the original complainant in the TANSI land deal corruption case against former Tamil .......more

George Fernandes

Defence budget could be hiked, says Fernandes

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Defence Minister George Fernandes today said that the defence budget could be hiked to the level of three per cent of the GDP by......more

P V Narasimha Rao

Rao to move Delhi HC
only after sentence order

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, convicted in the JMM MPs bribery case, is ready with a petition to appeal against the...more

Uma Bharti

I was in love with Govindacharya: Bharti

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: BJP firebrand leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti says she was in love with her senior party colleague K N.....more

Ranawat arrives here
for PM’s surgery

MUMBAI, Oct 9: New York-based orthopaedic surgeon Chitranjan Ranawat, who will operate upon Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today held a ......more

Action Plan on Zoo
upkeep in offing

HYDERABAD, Oct 9: Andhra Pradesh Government has asked senior official A V S Reddy, probing into the ghastly killing of a 13-month-old tigress in a ......more

AIADMK general
council meet deferred, Jaya’s tour off

CHENNAI, Oct 9: The AIADMK’s general council meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, has been indefinitely postponed following the special court verdict....more

Indefinite curfew imposed
Army called out in Biharsharif

BIHARSHARIF, Oct 9: Army was called out today in Biharsharif, headquarters of Nalanda...more

Channa Reddy, I stand vindicated, says Swamy

MADURAI, Oct 9: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, the original complainant in the TANSI land deal corruption case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha, today said he felt vindicated by the special court verdict convicting her.

Swamy told PTI that the judgement also proved that the then Governor, the late M Channa Reddy, was right in according sanction to him to prosecute Jayalalitha in 1995 while she was Chief Minister.

Swamy, who was among the first to rake up the scandal, said all the politicians should be made accountable in a democracy.

"When I prepared the case and asked for sanction, I was convinced that it was a case of betrayal of public trust. That was why I did not withdraw the case," said Swamy, who was Jayalalitha’s ally during the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.

The JP leader added that the three-year sentence meant that Jayalalitha would not be able to contest the next elections. The rule, he said, was clear that unless a higher court cleared her off the offence, she would not be able to contest. The same was the the case with her associate Sasikala, too, he added. (PTI)

Defence budget could be hiked, says Fernandes

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Defence Minister George Fernandes today said that the defence budget could be hiked to the level of three per cent of the GDP by next year even as he asserted that the armed forces did not face any fund crunch.

"I am personnaly campaigning for it, we need some time. Hopefully we will have three per cent of GDP as the defence budget by the next budget or the one after that," Fernandes told reporters after reviewing the Territorial Army DAy parade here.

He asserted that neither Army nor Air Force nor Navy faced any major financial crisis.

Referring to the agreements signed with Putin here, the Defence Minister said these would help India have necessary indigenous production of armaments and thus enhance the military preparedness.

Reacting to the senior Hurriyat leader, Abdul Gani Lone, indicating that the stalled talks to solve the Kashmir issue could be resumed soon and that Pakistan be involved in the dialogue, he said there was "nothing new" in Lone’s statement.

Government position is very clear, he said. "We can have dialogue with Pakistan only when Islamabad stops cross border terrorism."

The Defence Minister also ruled out any other Kargil type misadventure by Pakistan saying "one Kargil was enough for it. They may have their plans but they cannot succeed". (PTI)

Rao to move Delhi HC only after sentence order

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, convicted in the JMM MPs bribery case, is ready with a petition to appeal against the trial court order but will file it in the Delhi High Court only after pronouncement of the sentence on Oct 11, his counsel R K Anand said today.

"The petition for appeal is ready, but it will be filed after pronouncement of the quantam of sentence by the trial court," Anand told reporters at the Delhi court complex.

Asked whether the petition for appeal would be filed soon after pronouncement of the sentence, he said "it depends upon what the quantum of sentence will be."

"If the sentence will be less than three years, then we can file bail application before the trial court itself, which will be our first priority," he said.

As per the law the trial court has the jurisdiction to hear bail application in that eventuality, "otherwise we will move the High Court. But it all depends on the situation that will emerge from the sentence order," he said.

Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, who had convicted Rao and his former cabinet colleague Buta Singh on finding them guilty of bribing four former JMM MPs — Shibu Soren, Simon Marandi, Suraj Mandal and Shailendra Mahato — on September 29, had deferred argument on quantum of the sentence for October 11.

The trial court, however, had acquitted nine other accused including former Union Ministers Capt Satish Sharma and Ajit Singh, former Haryana and Karnataka Chief Ministers Bhajan Lal and Veerappa Moily respectively giving them benefit of doubt as CBI failed to bring enough evidence against them. (PTI)

I was in love with Govindacharya: Bharti

NEW DELHI, Oct 9: BJP firebrand leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti says she was in love with her senior party colleague K N Govindacharya and wanted to marry him.

"Yes, I was in love with him. I wanted to marry him. I used to chase him everywhere and I feel that he also loved me though he never told me so," Bharti was quoted as having said so in an interview to weekly magazine "The Week" in its latest issue.

Although Govindacharya never told her about his love, he had revealed his feelings to party leader L K Advani and former RSS supremo Bhau Rao Devras, Bharti said.

"Bhau Rao advised me that I should not marry for the sake of the masses and the country. So I gave up the idea," she said.

Asked whether she ever had a crush on anybody before taking ‘Sanyas’ at the age of 16, Bharti said, "yes, many. Now all those people are happily married. I am not going to name them. All of them were elite. I was an innocent flirt."

Denying that she was highly ambitious, she said that if that was so she would not have quit her ministerial post. "There are more ambitious people in the party than me. I am not happy with the way the media has portrayed me. I am a 24 carat person."

Asked why she chose a self-imposed exile in Kedarnath, Bharti said she wanted to run away from the crowd and moreover she was in search of a place where she could think and rethink.

"This is one of the most divine places on earth, the abode of Lord Shiva, and I am a Shiv Bhakt. Here I feel that I am communicating with Mahadev. Whatever decision I will take here, there will be no change in them."

She is still undecided about withdrawing resignation from Lok Sabha saying "Atalji (Prime Minister) spoke to me a short while ago. He says that my exile is not suiting him. I will talk to BJP leaders once the Dussehra festival is over."

Replying to a question about her wish in life, Bharti said, "I want to spend time in a small house by the side of a river with dogs, cows and birds. I like the company of animals and birds. I should also have a Maruti." (PTI)

Ranawat arrives here for PM’s surgery

MUMBAI, Oct 9: New York-based orthopaedic surgeon Chitranjan Ranawat, who will operate upon Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today held a series of meetings with senior medical professionals, who will be assisting him during the surgery.

Dr Ranawat flew to Mumbai late on Sunday night, Breach Candy Hospital’s General Manager (Planning and Marketing) Cyrus Engineer told UNI here. Mr Vajpayee will arrive here later in the afternoon, he said.

Dr Ranawat, after his arrival, met the team of doctors comprising Dr Farooq Udwadia, Dr Nandu Laud, Dr Harish Bhinde and anaesthestist Dr S R Gupte, who will be assisting him during the operation of the left knee of Mr Vajpayee tomorrow morning.

Dr Ranawat also reviewed all the arrangements and the facilities at the hospital. He comes to Mumbai once in a year and performs surgeries for a week. "He (Dr Ranawat) is comfortable with the doctors at the hospital," hospital sources said.

Considered among the best orthopaedician in the world, Dr Ranawat is based in New York. Dr Ranawat, who along with Dr Jose Rodrigues runs the Centre for Total Joint Replacement at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital, has done pioneering work in the field of knee and hip replacement.

Dr Ranawat was born in Indore and is son of an IPS officer from the royal family of Sarvaniya Maharaj, now in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh. He studied in India and in the mid-sixties migrated to USA — and turned out to be among the world’s best orthopaedic surgeon.

He is also a philanthropist by nature and runs a public trust "Ranawat Foundation Trust", meant to render services for humanity. The trust has recently provided aid to a local hospital in Pune. Doctors, who have worked with him described the noted surgeon as one of the best in the world with a healing touch. (UNI)

Action Plan on Zoo upkeep in offing

HYDERABAD, Oct 9: Andhra Pradesh Government has asked senior official A V S Reddy, probing into the ghastly killing of a 13-month-old tigress in a local Zoo on October 4, to also submit an Action Plan for better Zoo management.

Giving details of terms of reference of the inquiry, State Minister for Forests and Environment Ch Ayyanapatrudu told reporters here today that the inquiry would study the security and protection lapses by Zoo staff and their possible involvement in the gruesome incident.

The inquiry officer was also asked to submit an Action Plan for better management and upkeep of the Zoo including security and protection aspects, he said.

Reddy would also probe the reasons for delaying the report (of the incident) by the Department and the personnel to be held responsible for the lapses, Ayyanapatrudu said.

A critical analysis of the security management of the Zoo and identification of gaps also form part of the terms of reference of the probe, he said.

Reddy has been asked to submit the report within three days, the Minister added.(PTI)

AIADMK general council meet deferred, Jaya’s tour off

CHENNAI, Oct 9: The AIADMK’s general council meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, has been indefinitely postponed following the special court verdict sentencing party supremo Jayalalitha to a three-year prison term in the TANSI land deal case.

Jayalalitha said in a brief announcement here that the meeting was being postponed due to ‘unavoidable reasons’. A fresh date would be announced later, she said.

The AIADMK headquarters issued another press release announcing that Jayalalitha’s planned tour of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu from October 15 was being postponed.

The party alleged that its functionaries were arrested last night in various parts of the state, long before the judgement was delivered, in the name of preventive measures.

The arrests were continuing, rendering it impossible for partymen at district, panchayat union and town levels to make arrangements for Jayalalitha’s various programmes on her tour, the release claimed. It also alleged that partymen were being held under non-bailable sections. (PTI)

Indefinite curfew imposed
Army called out in Biharsharif

BIHARSHARIF, Oct 9: Army was called out today in Biharsharif, headquarters of Nalanda district, following mounting communal tension over the construction of a temple on a disputed piece of land, even as an indefinite curfew was imposed in and around the town, Director General of Police K A Jacob said.

The tension was sparked off when the Karsevaks, defying a ban, constructed the temple of Goddess Durga on the disputed peice of land at Ambair Chowk yesterday.

Three columns of the Army, besides contingents of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Bihar Military Police (BMP) had been pressed into service to maintain law and order, Jacob, who is camping here along with Home Secretary UN Panjiar, told PTI.

Members of a particular community came out in droves defying curfew regulations, blocked streets with burning tyres and wooden logs. The mob also indulged in brickbatting at several places, he said.

Two persons were injured when police opened fire to disperse a mob after bursting of teargas shells failed to control the rampaging hordes, he said.

District Magistrate Rajesh Agarwal said an idol of Goddess Durga was installed on October four, but the administration maintained restraint till the conclusion of Durga Puja festival. When the organisers bagan constructing a temple yesterday the administration objected to it, leading to violent protests.

The idol was removed from the disputed site this morning and a portion of the temple structure was also demolished, he added.

A large contingent was posted at the disputed site but they did nothing to stop the illegal activity, he said, adding a departmental inquiry had been initiated into their role.

A Circle Inspector deputed as magistrate in-charge at the disputed site had been suspended and recommendation made to the Government for his dismissal, Agarwal said. (PTI)