Campaign reaches crescendo

RAE BAREILY, May 4: Campaign for the May 8 Lok Sabha bypoll has reached the crescendo with top leaders of different political parties crisscrossing the dusty Lok Sabha constituency to woo the 13.6 lakh voters

Spearheading the Congress campaign, party President Sonia Gandhi has undertaken a two-day whirlwind tour of the constituency to seek votes from the electorate, especially women, with whom she identifies herself as a mother and a grandmother.

The Congress president's son Rahul Gandhi, who is her poll manager, has addressed 300 public meetings, besides underatking a padayatra to establish people-to-people contact.

To strike the sentimental chord of the villagers, Rahul left beind his Toyota Land Cruiser in course of the campaign and hopped into a bullock cart, much to the delight of the rural voters.

Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka who is her polling agent is also expected to join the poll campaign.

To attract the voters, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav, son of UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, took out a cycle procession. Cycle is the election symbol of that party.

The by and large peaceful campaign saw leaders of BJP, SP and local outfit Apna Dal championing their party cause and in the process seeking to demolish their political rivals.

As the polling date is coming closer, allegations and counter allegations are being levelled by rival political parties.

The main Congress charge is that the Uttar Pradesh Government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav has not been cooperating with the Centre in implementation of development schemes in the constituency.

Congress leaders say that whatever development has taken place in the area, the credit goes to the Government at the Centre.

Yadav, however, rejects the charge saying that the Gandhi family has done nothing for the constituency.

However, to rubbish his charge, Congress leaders have been distributing pamphlets lifting the various projects initiated by the Centre.

The BJP on the other hand has been harping on the tune that Sonia Gandhi's resignation from the Lok Sabha is a "false sacrifice and a drama" and she had quit the seat due to political compulsions.

Commenting on this allegation, UPCC spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh asked why does the opposition not do such a drama.

"Atal Behari Vajpayee knew fully well that in 1996 the Government would not last. But still he took oath showing the lust for power in BJP."
For BJP, the campaign has been lacklusture in the absence of regular visits by senior leaders who have been preoccupied ever since party colleague Pramod Mahajan was shot and succumbed to his injuries yesterday.

A reluctant BJP candidate Vinay Katiyar has been rueing that he has been left high and dry by the party leadership ever since he was made to jump into the fray.

However, BJP is making allout efforts to improve its performance from the fourth position it got in 2004.

BJP leaders, however, attribute the thin crowds to the scorching heat.

BJP leaders, including party chief Rajnath Singh, senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and Kalraj Mishra have alleged that Sonia Gandhi has not done anything for the constituency.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has blamed BJP for splitting Samajwadi Party votes by fielding Vinay Katiyar who is already a Rajya Sabha member. SP had finsihed second last time.

On the other hand expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti has been accusing Samajwadi Party for splitting Apna Dal votes and thus helping Sonia Gandhi indirectly.

Bharti is supporting the Apna Dal candidate Prabha Singh Lodhi.

Congress leaders have dubbed Vinay Katiyar as BJP's "sacrificial lamb" and asked the people "not to vote for a communal person who is doomed for a historic defeat". (PTI)

A gang of cheats busted

PATIALA, May 4: The district police has busted a gang of cheats who duped a local jeweller by selling a brass brick for Rs 10 lakh.

Addressing a press conference here Senior Superintendent of Police Parmod Ban said that Amarinder Singh, a local jeweller had filed a complaint with the police, that five persons had sold him a brass brick weighing two kilograms. He said that a couple of days back five persons, who were later identified as Wahid Khan, Santosh Kumar, Sadhu Singh, Rattan and Ashok Kumar, came to the shop of the jeweller and offered to sell a two kg brick that they claimed was of pure gold.

Mr Ban said the accused offered to sell the brick for only Rs 10 lakh and thus lured the jeweller into buying the brick. He said that the jeweller even asked for sample of the brick to ascertain that it was of pure gold, but the accused managed to give him a sample of pure gold. After getting Rs 10 lakh from the jeweller, the five went away. Later the jeweller got to know that he had been sold a brass brick by the gang and he reported the matter to the police.

The SSP said the police immediately swung into action and six teams were dispatched to different places to track down the culprits. A team comprising of inspector Krishan Kumar Panthey and ASI Kaur Singh tracked down the culprits in Mewat region of Haryana.

Mr Ban said the Mewat police extended full cooperation to the raiding party and the latter recovered the money the accused had taken from the jeweller.

He said that the four accused including Wahid khan, Santosh Kumar, Sadhu Singh and Rattan had been arrested while Ashok Kumar was still at large. Search parties had been sent to different places to nab him and a case under relevant sections had been registered. (UNI)

Indian kids aware of health issues, but not health conscious

NEW DELHI, May 4: Indian kids are becoming aware of health issues and lifestyle diseases, but this awareness is not making them health conscious, doctors and teachers say.

While a nationwide survey conducted by a kids channel has found that Indian children are more aware of obesity issues and nearly 47 per cent of them want to be slim, doctors and educationists say, this awareness is not leading to consciousness.

"Kids today are aware of lot of issues, whether it is obesity or lifestyle diseases, fashion, technology etc. But this is not leading to their becoming health conscious or adopting a healthy lifestyle," says Dr J S Bhasin, Sr Consultant, Pediatrics, Fortis Jessa Ram Hospital.

"The urge to be slim is because of the impact of glamour and fashion world. Girls want to be slim because of these reasons, but they follow all the wrong ways for doing that - going on crash diets, etc," says Dr Bhasin.

"It is more of appearence consciousness than health consciousness and that too only among girls," says D K Bedi, Principal, Apeejay School.

"On the whole obesity among the kids is on the rise, because of fast foods and colas, incidence of diabetes and blood pressure is also increasing and a large number of them are facing behavioural and neurological problems... There are no signs of Indian kids becoming health conscious," says Dr Neelam Mohan, Paediatriac gastroenteroligist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here.

However, a survey conducted by Cartoon Network channel says nearly 47 per cent of the Indian kids (9-14 years) want to be slim. They are more aware of obesity issues compared to their counterparts in other countries.

"Nearly 88 per cent of kids felts they were leading a healthy lifestyle and around 78 per cent said they were eating enough fruits and vegetables," the survey notes.

"As brought out by the survey, if the kids say they are becoming health conscious it is a good thing. But then, at present it is not showing. Today obesity is the main issue... if their diet habits are changing, it will take a few years before the results show up," notes Dr Mohan.

"The awareness is coming due to continuous campaigns in schools, on the media and other education forums. But the results will show only when they adopt those changes," she says.

"But we don't see it happening," notes Bedi. "children want to eat just junk food. They can't resist colas and burgers. The awareness is there, not the will to change."

Parents can play a major role in bringing this health consciousness, notes Dr Bhasin. "Once they themselves stop indulging in these things and giving in to the demands of their kids, things will change." (PTI)

Subsidy on solar lanterns in Haryana

CHANDIGARH, May 4: The Haryana Government has earmarked a sum of Rs 2.6 crore for providing solar lanterns to as many as 7,990 beneficiaries in the state during the current financial year.

Of the total amount, Rs 1.18 crore would be given as subsidy by the government, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said here today.

Mr Chander Mohan said the total cost of a solar lantern was about Rs 3300 and the Government was providing a subsidy of Rs 1500 in each lantern. A beneficiary would had to pay only Rs 1800 as the cost of the lantern after getting subsidy.

He said while providing solar lanterns to the people, preference would be given to women.

Both individual beneficiaries and non-profit institutions would be eligible for getting subsidy on solar lantern. No individual would be given more than one lantern.

Stating that the solar lanterns were becoming very popular in the state, Mr Chander Mohan said solar energy could be used to meet the growing demand of power.

He stressed the need for developing the appropriate technologies for harnessing the locally available renewable resources of energy like solar, wind, bio and micro hydel with a view to meeting the challenges ahead.

He said Haryana was implementing a number of schemes for proper utilisation of solar energy, biogas, micro hydel and biomass energy. (UNI)

Maoists to be released if they agree to dialogue: Nepal

KATHMANDU, May 4: Expressing hope that the rebels will come to the negotiation table, Nepal's new Government today said it was willing to release Maoist leaders from jail if the rebels agree to dialogue.

A day after the declaration of ceasefire with the rebels, the interim Government also said they were free to hold public meetings and rallies but without carrying weapons.

"To move ahead the process first they must show willingness to come for dialogue and I hope they will," Minister for Housing and Physical Planning Gopalman Shrestha said.

The Government has already called for dialogue with the rebels and created conducive atmosphere for them to come to the negotiation table, Shrestha, Nepali Congress (Democratic) leader, said.

"After getting response from the rebels, the next cabinet meeting will decide about releasing the Maoists who are in jail," he said adding that once the decision is taken then procedure for withdrawing the cases will follow.

The Government will also make official request to the Government of India to release those Maoist leaders detained in Indian jail after some time, the Minister said.

The Government will also form a team for dialogue and formulate code of conduct to implement ceasefire effectively and honestly, he added.

He said Maoists should not carry weapons while moving around and organizing their programmes just like other political parties.

Maoist's chief Prachanda yesterday ruled out disarming his forces saying that it would be "suicidal" for his fighters to disarm after a decade-long insurgency while the armed forces remained ready for action.

In a related development, CPN-UML, a key ally of the Seven Partry Alliance, has formed a dialogue team headed by senior politburo member Jhalanath Khanal to hold talks with the Maoists from the party's level.

Other members of the five member dialogue team include Deputy Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, politbu ro members Amrit Bohara, Bamdev Gautam and Bharat Mohan Adhikari. (PTI)

DMK man has an edge

CHENNAI, May 4: DMK trearurer arcot N Veerasamy, Anna Nagar constituency is likely to have cake walk in the DMK bastion of Anna Nagar, with the AIADMK's ally MDMK putting up a 'light weight and little known' candidate for the seat.

DMK has been winning from this constituency since 1977, except in 1991, when the DMK was swept away by a wave caused by the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

It had returned the DMK President M Karunanidhi in 1977 and 1980. Veerasamy is pitted against BJP's H V Hande, who was a minister in the late M G Ramachandran's ministry, and MDMK's Vijaya Thayanban, MDMK's women wing organisor and a singer.

One of the newly developed part of Chennai, it is one of the posh area with top civil and police officials choosing to reside here. MDMK Chief Vaiko is also a resident of The area. There are a few slums dotting the Cooum river.

Despite being regarded as a well planned and well maintained area, Anna Nagar has its share of civic problems, especially parking space, frequent power cuts, lack of adequate drinkig water supply and absence of adequate sewereage faciltieis and storm water drains.

What seems to be going in favour of Veerasamy, is that he has been exhausting the constituency development fund for over a decade, for constructing slum clearnace board tenaments, laying of cement roads, drinking water facility, upgrading school buildings and had been doling out money for medical expenses.

The cadres of the Democratic Progresive Alliance (DPA) have also been putting their might to ensure that it would be Veerasamy and no one else who would represent Anna Nagar.

Vijaya Thayanban, a debutant for this constituency, is banking on MDMK and AIADMK cadre support.

According to the cadres, she had an advantage due to the flood relief work undertaken by the Jayalalithaa Government in the state and also being the first woman to be fielded by any party in the constituency. This is being taken by her as an advantage.

The MDMK candidate is talking of an alternative to Nungambakkam subway, which with dense traffic, has created numerous problems to the office goers.

H V Hande, is contesting from this constituency for the second time after 26 years. According to him it is a straight fight between him and the DMK nominee. Hande had been practising as a doctor in the area for the past five decades.

In his campaigning, which does not have many people accompanying him, Hande is talking about bad road conditions, poor sanitation and frequent power cuts. (PTI)

Brigand Veerappan's widow seeking justice from people

PENNAGARAM, TN, May 4: The popularity or notoriety of forest brigand Veerappan will be tested in this rural consituency, Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district, which was more or less his homeland, with his widow Muthulakshmi "seeking justice from the people against the atrocities of police", in the May 8 Assembly polls.

Situated on the banks of the Cauvery, Pennagaram is surrounded by thick, dense forests and hills. The cover of the deep and dark woods provided sufficient shelter to Veerappan, who was operating around the area.

With the president of the Pattali Makkal Katchi G K Mani, who was elected from here in 1996 and 2001, switching over to Mettur constituency in Salem, the seat was allocated for the DMK this time. The DMK has fielded former PMK man Periannan, while the AIADMK's S R Vetrivel, son of S Renganathan, former AIADMK MLA had been named the party's nominee.

But, the contest is turning out to be a triangular one, as Muthulakshmi, an independent, is finding good support, especially from the traditional PMK voters. A section of PMK functionaries are angry with the DMK for fielding Periannan, who is considered a "betrayer", since he crossed over to the DMK from the PMK. Periannan, who was the district secretary of the PMK, rebelled against the PMK leadership and contested as an independent in 2001 polled a sizeble number of votes here.

Though, most of the PMK functionaries vow their support to the DMK in public, the resentment among the PMK workers and voters for Periannan, made them turn towards Muthulakshmi.

Veerappan's widow, who was born in Neruppur, near here, is a well known face. Muthulakshmi, along with her two sibblings, is visiting each and every house seeking votes for "comb", the symbol allotted for her.

Veerappan's daughters Vidya Rani and Prabha are accompanying their mother seeking votes for her. They said "People have affection and love for our father. Our mother is contesting the elections, following request from the local people. The people will definitely vote for their candidate".

"My mother did not jump into politics suddenly. She founded an outfit to redress the grievances of those affected by the operations of the Special Task Force formed to apprehend our father. She has been helping the villagers through an organisation floated by her," Veerappan's daughters said.

"While other candidates are seeking support based on the strengh of their parties, our mother is relying on people's goodwill for our father and their support for the struggle against police atrocities," they say.

Though the PMK local leaders deny that their party is behind Muthulakshmi's move, most of the party's traditional voters are opting for Muthulakshmi this time.

However, the DMK workers expressed confidence that PMK voters would not ditch their alliance. "Muthulakshmi's presence will not affect our chances as her battle is against the police and the ruling party. It is the AIADMK which will be hit by Muthulakshmi's candidature," they claimed.

The AIADMK supporters dismissed the claim that Veerappan was loved by people. "He is a brigand and criminal. People support the action of our government against him. The villager faced numerous hardships due to him. They are happy now and gratefully vote for us," they claim.

Apart from Pennagaram, the constituency has many villages including Sathyanathapuram, Manja Naickenalli, Kalappambadi, Chinnampalli and Perumbalai. Most of the villages are backward with low agriculture produce, lack of amenities and industrial development.

Dominated by Vanniyars, the constituency has a sizeable dalit population. The constituency has a low literacy and high poverty rates.

Most of the people in Pennagaram and surrounding villages do not own land and work as agricultural labourers. The DMK is harping on the theme of two acres of land to the poor and reduction of rice price.

Venturing into the forest and picking up dry logs is one of the major occupation here. Many villagers seem to have a grouse against the forest officials and police.

The total electorate of the constituency is 2,07,093. There are 1,03,107 men and 1,03,986 women voters.

Pennagaram is one constituency, which the PMK has won in 1996 when it contested alone. The seat was alloted to the PMK in the AIADMK alliance in 2001 and the party won again.

As the DMK is banking on the support of the PMK, which has a very strong presence here, the behaviour of traditional PMK voters will decide the poll outcome here. (PTI)

Kanchi seer moves SC to transfer criminal case outside TN

NEW DELHI, May 4: Kanchi Shankracharya Jayendra Saraswati has again moved the Supreme Court to seek the transfer of another criminal case outside Tamil Nadu in the Radhakrishnan attempt to murder case in which the seer is the main accused.

The transfer petition will come up for hearing on May 9.

Petitioner has sought transfer of the case on the grounds that another case pending against him in relation to the murder of muth manager Shankarraman has already been transferred to Pondicherry.

The petitioner has contended that free and fair trial was not possible in the state as its Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has been taking personal interest in the case and the state police and administration were biased against him.

Notably, there was an attempt on the life of Radhakrishnan last year, who himself is one of the conspirators in the Shankarraman murder case, after he started threatening Shankaracharya that he would disclose facts about the case.

The trial of the Shankarraman murder case has already been stayed by the apex court during the pendency of an application filed by Jayendra Saraswati seeking change of the public prosecutor (PP) appointed by the state of Tamil Nadu on the grounds that the PP was biased against him. (UNI)

Govt employees to decide AIADMK's fate in Trichy II

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, TN, May 4: Over 40,000 Government employees are set to decide the fortunes of candidates in Tiruchirapalli II constituency, which also has a considerable number of minority voters.

Several Government employees, protesting the withdrawal of concessions, had been arrested under TESMA during their strike in 2003, an incident which created a furore in the state and they would now decide the fate of parties in the constituency.

DMK strongman K N Nehru is attempting to capitalise on dissatisfaction among government servants, claiming that the party stood by them during testing time.

AIADMK candidate Mariam Pichai, the Tiruchirapalli town secretary of the party, might find the going tough considering the treatment allegedly meted out to Government employees.

Many Government employees who had allegedly complained to the state government in 2003 were arrested and dismissed from service.

Following the incident, the opposition demanded the ouster of the AIADMK Government and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa later reinstated most employees.

Trichy II which boasts of a large number of educational institutions, does not have any major industry due to lack of space. Another problem here is transportation.

Though Trichy is being promoted as a technology hub, IT parks are being set up on the outskirts of the city and people have to commute long distances for work, a voter said.

Voters are also drawing attention to flood prevention work for which the previous DMK government had sanctioned Rs 50 crore but which was not implemented by the subsequent AIADMK Government.

Sources also point out discontent among cadres of the both parties over the selection of candidates. While Anbil Periyasamy of the DMK has been moved to Trichy I in favour of K N Nehru, Mariam Pichai was selected from among two other favourites in the AIADMK.

In 2001, when the AIADMK swept the polls, the DMK retained this seat with Periyasamy prevailing over Selvaraj P C of the Congress, then an ally of the AIADMK.

In 1996, Anbil Poyyamozhi of the DMK defeated Selvaraj of the AIADMK while in 1991, the AIADMK's Mala G R, a doctor by profession, unseated Poyyamozhi. (PTI)

Woman’s body dug out for probing her death

MUZAFFARNAGAR, UP, May 4: Police today dug out the body of a woman, allegedly killed and buried by her husband, in Gogwam village of the district on the instructions of district administration.

The woman was allegdly buried by her spouse and his brother after strangling her to death over a property dispute, they said.

The parents of the victim grew suspicious and had filed a complaint against the duo following which the admistration order digging out of the body for further investigation. (PTI)

US embassy opens visa application centre at Jalandhar

JALANDHAR, May 4: To facilitate immigrant visa applicants, US embassy has signed an agreement with a private Indian company VFS to pen visa application centre in Jalandhar.

Apart from Jalandhar, US embassy along with VFS will open such application centers at Chandigarh and New Delhi also so that instead of standing in queue in front of embassy, applicants could just submit their duly filled applications to these centers from where it will be couriered to the embassy said Karen P Schinnerer, Visa Officer of the embassy here today.

From May 1 onwards, immigrant visa applicantsmust appear at the US embassy only on the day of their interview and in addition, the new VFS agreement would expedite immigrant visa processing procedures on the day of an applicant’s interview, she added.

Under the new system, all immigrant visa applicants scheduled for interview on or after May 1, should submit their completed packet-4 (information for immigrant visa applicants) documents at their nearest VFS office for which the office will provide a receipt she said revealing that for its services, VFS office could charge a meager fee of Rs 337 from each applicant.

Asked about the reason for opening such applicantion collection centers, Schinnerer said that number of applications has swallowed by 30 per cent for the last two year by submitting the applications at their door steps, it would be convenient for people as well as for embassy also.

To deal with the increased number of applications, US embassy has already deployed more staff which was expected to be more increased by the end of current year, she said claiming that by the year 2008 various new facilities would be introduced in the visa section of the embassy.

She revealed that by next year, consulate of US embassy would be opened in Hyderabad also so that work of the embassy could be divided in the country.

On a query, whether there was any change in the visa rules by the embassy, she replied in negative but said that students were getting preference for going to US for their studies and now like other European countries, Indian students in US after completing their one year of study, were allowed to work for the self- financing of their studies. (PTI)

SC stays Gujarat HC direction for removing religious structures

NEW DELHI, May 4: The Supreme Court today stayed the Gujarat High Court order directing authorities to remove all religious structures that were encroaching upon public spaces across the state without any discrimination.

The order to this effect was passed by a bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice Dalveer Bhandari on an urgent plea made by the Centre during the mentioning hour seeking to stay the May two High Court directions.

Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian said the High Court had taken suo motu action based on a newspaper report without verifying the facts.

Quoting Home Ministry report, he said situation in Vadodara was tense after the violence and Army has staged a flag march in the riot-affected areas.

Vadodara was hit by the violence after the demolition of a Dargah.

The High Court has treated as writ petition a news report published in a national daily highlighting various religious structures encroaching the public places and had directed the authorities to take necessary action and reply by May five.

The High Court had pulled up the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) for being "silent spectators" regarding encroachments on public places by religious structures.

It had directed that encroachment causing traffic problems should be demolished zone wise or phase wise.

According to the news report, there were 1200 temples and 260 Islamic shrines encroaching on public spaces according to a survey conducted by AMC. (PTI)