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INLD not to support NEW DELHI, Apr 24: The four-MP strong Indian National...more
Sonia begins consultation NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Congress president Sonia Gandhi...more
New Govt likely within NEW DELHI, Apr 24: AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha today...more |
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Multi-storied
building gutted in fire PATNA, Apr 24: Properties worth several lakhs of rupees were reduced to ashes when a fire broke out at the second floor of a multi-storied building here in the wee hours today.....more GAYA, Apr 24: As many as 36 activists of outlawed Ranvir Sena have been arrested from various places in Central Bihar in connection with the slaughter of 12 people in Gaya district on Wednesday, police said here today.....more Ugandan guerillas KAMPALA, Apr 24: Guerillas battling Ugandan Government forces in the Western region yesterday.....more Improvement in KOHIMA, Apr 24: Nagaland Home Minister Neiphiu Rio has said there is an improvement in the law....more No indication of rainfall AGARTALA, Apr 24: The spectre of near famine is stalking Tripura with drinking water sources drying...more Racket involved in PALAKKAD, Apr 24: The town south police have busted a racket in the sale of babies born out of wedlock...more |
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INLD not to support Cong-led govt NEW DELHI, Apr 24: The four-MP strong Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which voted in favour of the Vajpayee Government in the Lok Sabha, has decided not to support a Congress-led Government. INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala told Star-TV in an interview that his party decided to support the confidence motion when the Third Front did not seem to materialise and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Arjun Singh’s statement made it clear that Congress was planning to form a Government with Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister. Ours is a secular state, but will the conscience of the people of this country tolerate that a woman of non-Indian origin be the Prime Minister.....At least O P Chautala and his party MPs are not ready to agree to this. Therefore, in national interest we took the decision (to vote in favour of BJP), Chautala was quoted by the private Tv channel in a press release. He said many of his colleagues described his decision as the right one. If they had known that Sonia Gandhi was to become Prime Minister, they would have abstained, he said. Rejecting allegations of payment of money to inld for supporting BJP, Chautala said there is no currency in the world that can buy any worker of Lok Dal. He said he was confident that even now BJP would form the Government and attributed Vajpayee’s defeat to poor management adding that had he been the manager, the result would definitely have been otherwise. (PTI) |
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Sonia begins consultation with MPs, CWC members NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has begun consultations with party members from Lok Sabha as well as party working committee members to elicit their views on the formation of an alternative Government. Gandhi, who was asked by President K R Narayanan to complete the exercise of consultations with other opposition parties for formation of an alternative Government at the earliest, has so far met over 50 MPs individually. Party sources said that many MPs told her that everything possible should be done to avert a mid-term poll and even be prepared to provide outside support to alternative Government. Prominent among those who met Gandhi included former ministers Balram Jakhar, Jafar Sharief and Praful Patel and CWC members Tariq Anwar and Vijay Bhaskar Reddy. Attempts by Congress to form a minority Government suffered a setback yesterday with Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav refusing to extend support to Congress to form a minority Government. We will talk to them (Samajwadi Party) again, Gandhi had stated last night after her 40-minute meeting with the President. She had submitted a list of 233 members extending support to Congress in forming a new Government. Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil suggested that Congress being the second largest party should be invited by the President to form a new Government. As far as the number is concerned, he said, the strength of the Congress could be tested on the floor of the house. Asked why Congress be exempted from producing letters of support when BJP had done so at the time of formation of its Government last year, Patil said that was one instance. There are several instances when letters of support were not insisted upon. Patil said he was confident about the installation of an alternative Congress Government but he could not say at this stage whether it would be a minority Congress Government or a Congress-led Government. (PTI) |
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New Govt likely within two days, says Jayalalitha NEW DELHI, Apr 24: AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha today said that a new Government was likely to be formed within two days. Jayalalitha, who had a 10-minute meeting with President K R Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhavan, said that discussions were on among leaders of various opposition parties on the formation of an alternative Government. Soon after her meeting with the President, the second within 48 hours, Jayalalitha met Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence. Congress attempt to form a minority Government with support of other opposition parties had been stalled by strong opposition of Mulayam Singh Yadav. The AIADMK supremo told reporters on return to her hotel that she would not divulge the details of her talks with the President. I am not going to divulge (the details) except that a new Government will be formed most probably within two days, she added. (PTI) |
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Multi-storied building gutted in fire PATNA, Apr 24: Properties worth several lakhs of rupees were reduced to ashes when a fire broke out at the second floor of a multi-storied building here in the wee hours today. Assistant divisional fire officer Ramesh Chandra told that ten fire tenders were pressed into service to contain the fire. The cause was being investigated and efforts were on to ascertain the loss of property, he said. Firemen took six hours to contain the fire. He said that there was no fire extinguishing equipment in the building, which had been declared unsafe by the Fire Department in 1991-92. (UNI) |
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GAYA, Apr 24: As many as 36 activists of outlawed Ranvir Sena have been arrested from various places in Central Bihar in connection with the slaughter of 12 people in Gaya district on Wednesday, police said here today. Inspector General of Police (Central Range, Patna) Neelmani said that police raided several hideouts of the Sena in extremist-hit Bhojpur, Rohtas, Arwal, Gaya and Aurangabad districts in Central Bihar to make the arrest. Neelmani said steps were being taken to further intensify combing operations to nab the extremists with the help of para-military forces. He said a close watch was being kept on the movement of private armies and ultra-left outfits in the state. Neelmani said efforts were also being made to raise village voluntary forces in each of the villages in extremist-hit Gaya district after the killing at Khagri Bigha and Jahir Bigha tolas of Sindani village in Gaya. The village volunteer force would have representatives of all sections of society to instil confidence among people and such forces had already been constituted in villages adjoining Jehanabad, Bhojpur and Aurangabad districts. (PTI) |
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Improvement in Nagaland law and order KOHIMA, Apr 24: Nagaland Home Minister Neiphiu Rio has said there is an improvement in the law and order situation in the state as the current ceasefire with insurgents is in consonance with the wishes of the people craving for peace. Inaugurating a waiting shed here yesterday constructed by NGOs, Mr Rio said despite the cease fire, incidences of kidnapping, extortion and other related criminal activities are still plaguing the state. He called for a social reform to set things right, saying only a few did good but the majority did wrong and this will affect the society. The minister stated that Nagas should have a clear political programme to move on to the next millennium. He said if the Nagas converge their views soon, they are certain to face a crisis. He appealed to all the NGOs to extend their co-operative hands to the Government. (UNI) No indication of rainfall AGARTALA, Apr 24: The spectre of near famine is stalking Tripura with drinking water sources drying up everywhere in the hilly and remote areas of the state. Official sources said here today that the State Government had taken several measures to tackle the situation, arising out of a continued heat wave and lack of rainfall. The Government had also decided to double ration in the drought-prone hilly and remote areas of the state, sources added. State Agriculture Department Director S K Debbarma told here that such dry spell was being witnessed for the first time during the past 15 years. More than 31 per cent "boro crops" and 26 per cent seasonal vegetables had already been damaged due to lack of water and rain, he pointed out. Mr Debbarma said crops worth more than Rs 33 crore had been damaged in the entire state while the boro crops could not be cultivated in 8,600 hectares. If there were no rainfall in the state in the next 15 to 20 days, the situation would become critical, he said. Outbreak of enteric diseases in an epidemic form are feared in the hills and remote areas as the hill people had been forced to drink unhygienic water. Official sources said many people had so far died in the hilly and remote areas due to the enteric diseases. The Agriculture Director said ground water level had gone down considerably in most parts of the state. Agriculture Department’s field officials have been asked to work round-the-clock to tackle the situation and hold regular meetings with farmers. Local meteorological office sources said the mercury had been hovering between 33 and 35 degrees celsius in the state. Since December last year only 69.8 mm rainfall had been recorded against 571.30 mm during the corresponding period last year, the sources said adding that during December last year and January and February this year no rainfall was recorded in the state. Worse still, there were no indications of rainfall, sources added. (UNI) Racket involved in sale of babies busted PALAKKAD, Apr 24: The town south police have busted a racket in the sale of babies born out of wedlock, with the arrest of five people. The arrested, including an issueless couple who "bought" a male child from a woman who gave birth to it at the district hospital on April 17, were remanded to custody till May 7 by a Magistrate here yesterday. Police swung into action following the woman’s complaint that her child was kidnapped. The racket, centering in the district hospital, had been going on for quite some time with the connivance of a female nursing assistant who is still at large, police said. (UNI) |
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