Ambika Soni, Mohsina elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Congress leaders Mohsina Kidwai and Satish Sharma were among the 27 candidates across five states elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha Thursday, the last date for withdrawing nominations for the biennial elections to the upper house of parliament.Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and five others were June 7 declared elected unopposed from Andhra Pradesh. Elections will, however, be held across seven states June 17 but the candidates of the major political parties are assured of victory.The Congress’ Soni and Akali Dal’s Balwinder Singh Bhunder were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab without a contest as they were the only candidates in the fray.Kidwai and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai were re-elected from Chhattisgarh.In Tamil Nadu, six candidates – K.P. Ramalingam, T.M. Selvaganapathy and S. Thangavelu from the ruling DMK, P.H. Manoj Pandian and K. Ramalingam from the AIADMK and Sudarshan Nachiappan from the Congress, were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.In Maharashtra also, six candidates from various parties were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from after an independent candidate withdrew at the last minute.The Congress’ Vijay Darda and Avinash Pandey, the Nationalist Congress Party’s Tariq Anwar and Ishwarlal Jain, the BJP’s Piyush and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut were the successful candidates.Congress leader Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who filed his nomination as an independent, withdrew at the last minute paving the way for the unopposed election of the remaining six party supported candidates.In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party got seven of the 11 seats. Congress leader Satish Sharma and BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among those elected uncontested. Two seats were won by the Samajwadi Party.In Karnataka, liquor baron Vijay Mallay’s bid to enter the Rajya Sabha for the second time as an Independent rests on the ruling BJP as the Congress did not withdraw its second nominee Thursday, leaving five candidates in the fray for four seats.Two nominees of the BJP, former president M. Venkaiah Naidu and state leader Ayanur Manjunath, are sure of victory as the party has 116 members in the 225-member assembly and has the backing of five of the six Independents.A candidate requires 45 first preference votes of the legislators, who make up the electoral college, to win.The BJP will be left with 26 surplus votes which Mallya, backed by the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) which has 27 members in the assembly, hopes will see him through.The Congress, with 74 members, is assured of one seat for which it has re-nominated party general secretary and former union minister Oscar Fernandes.It has also fielded T.V. Maruthi, a Karnataka businessman, as its second nominee and retained him in the field to give Mallya a fight.
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CBI to quiz Ajmer blast accused on Mecca Masjid attack

Hyderabad, June 11 : Two activists of a Hindu terror group accused in the October 2007 blast in the Ajmer Sharif shrine will be brought here by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning in the Mecca Masjid bombing in May the same year.The CBI, which has made headway in investigations into the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, will bring Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma here next week. Both are members of the Abhinav Bharat and are currently lodged in Ajmer jail, Armed with a prisoners's transit warrant issued by a city court, the federal agency will shift the accused in the Ajmer dargah blast to Hyderabad for further investigations. The CBI believes that the blasts at both the mosque and dargah were the handiwork of the same group. A team of CBI officials is already in Hyderabad as part of the preparations to carry forward the investigations. They met Police Commissioner A.K. Khan, who assured them of all assistance. On a petition by the CBI, a local court had Thursday issued a prisoners' transit warrant to produce Gupta and Sharma in court. The CBI also informed the court that two other accused, Sandeep and Ramchandra, were absconding and efforts to nab them were on. Five people were killed in the bomb blast during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007. Nine people were killed in the subsequent police firing on protestors outside the mosque. Five months later, a blast in the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisthi dargah in Ajmer claimed one life and injured 30. The Hyderabad police had blamed Bangladesh-based Harkatul Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) for the Mecca Masjid terror attack. It also arrested nearly a dozen local Muslim youth but could find no evidence against them. There have also been allegations of police torturing the youth in custody. The CBI could not make much progress in the case during the last three years. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had also gone on record last year that the blast case had turned "cold" as the two primary suspects are dead. Police claimed that Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the case working for HuJI, was killed in a shootout in Pakistan a few weeks after the mosque blast. Another suspect was also presumed dead. The case took a new turn in April this year when Rajasthan's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS)arrested Gupta and Sharma in connection with the Ajmer blast.

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SOUTH WEST monsoon advances, brings rain in AP

Hyderabad, Jun 11 : Southwest monsoon today further advanced over some parts of Telangana and some more parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and remaining parts of Rayalaseema, with Gooty in Anantapur district recording a heavy rainfall of nine cm.Southwest monsoon has been vigorous over Rayalaseema. Isolated rain occurred over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Met Department said today.The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Kanekal (Anantapur district) and Muddanur (Cuddapah district) six each, Anantapur, Kamalapuram (Cuddapah district), Kuppam and Punganur (both Chittoor district) and Rayadurg (Anantapur district) five each, Cuddapah, Penukonda (Anantapur district) and Venkatagiri Kota (Chittoor district) four each, Arogyavaram, Chittoor, Allagadda, Alur and Yemmiganur (all Kurnool district), Bhimadole (West Godavari district), Jammalamadugu, Pulivendala and Vempalli (all Cuddapah district), Jangaon (Warangal district), Kadiri and Tadipatri (both Anantapur district) and Venkatapuram (Khammam district) three each, Hyderabad, Chilamattur, Dharmavaram, Hindupur, Kalyandurg and Pamidi (all Anantapur district), Holagunda, Koilkuntla, Mantralayam and Pathikonda (all Kurnool district), Ibrahimpatnam (Rangareddy district), Palamaner (Chittoor district), Proddatur and Rayachoty (both Cuddapah district) and Veeraghattam (Srikakulam district) two each.The maximum temperatures rose at one or two places over Telangana and changed little over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. They were significantly above normal at many places over Telangana but significantly below normal at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The highest maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius was recorded at Khammam. Moderate to rather heavy rain/ thundershowers may occur at many places over Rayalaseema and in the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Light to moderate rain/thundershowers may occur at a few places over Telangana and in the remaining districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh. A spell of rain/thundershowers would occur in parts of the city. Maximum and Minimum temperatures would be around 37 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.
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Bardhan blames Congress for injustice to Bhopal gas victims

Hyderabad, June 11 : Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan Friday blamed the Congress party for injustice to the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.Talking to reporters here, he demanded that all those responsible for the industrial disaster, including the Union Carbide Corp's then chairman Warren Anderson, be punished. The CPI leader wanted Anderson to be brought to India and tried in a court of law. "Unfortunately for the government, relations with the United States are more important than 20,000 deaths in the disaster," he said. He said the Congress should own the responsibility for its failure to try and punish all those responsible, including Anderson. Stating that a great injustice has been done to the victims by a meagre punishment to the guilty, the CPI leader demanded enactment of new law to prevent such industrial disaster and also to hold responsible the heads of the multi-national companies in such cases. Bardhan admitted that some policies of the West Bengal government did not find favour with the people, resulting in the defeat of the Left Front in the recent municipal elections in the state. He felt that industrialisation at the cost of agriculture land and prioritisation for chemical hubs and car factories were the wrong policies adopted by the state government. He advised the Left Front to introspect and go into the reasons for their defeat. It would be an uphill task to win the ensuing assembly election, he said. On food security bill, he said the bill was of no use in its present form. He suggested Universal Public Distribution System irrespective of the Below Poverty Line to provide nutritious food to all at an affordable cost. On Telangana issue, Bardhan said everyone should abide by the report of the Srikrishna Committee set up by the central government to look into the demands for and opposition to separate statehood to the region.
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CPI demands extradition of Warren Anderson

Hyderabad, Jun 11: Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary A B Bardhan today demanded immediate steps for extradition of then Union Carbide Chief Warren Anderson, the main accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy in which around 20,000 people lost their lives.Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists(APUWJ) here, Mr Bardhan said the entire country was shocked over the judgement on the tragedy whose effects were still on thousands of people even now.''There is not only delay in justice, but it (verdict) is mockery and denial of justice even 26 years after the incident.'' He also said the Centre should initiate steps to book all those responsible for the incident. The persons responsible -- both at the Centre and in the state government for the safe passage of Anderson soon after the incident-- should be booked, he added.Mr Bardhan alleged that ''the Congress was expert in finding a scapegoat and leaving the main accused free in the criminal incidents.'' He said ''it is very difficult for a Chief Minister of state alone to allow the accused to leave the country without the nod of the Centre.'' The Centre was not pressing the United States for extradition of the accused in several cases, including the present case, in view of its political and economic relations with that country, he alleged. He said the relation between the two countries was secondary and the first and foremost important thing was safeguarding the interests of the people of India.
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Congress and TDP trade charges over rising liquor sales

Hyderabad,June 11: Is rising rural income to be blamed for the increasing liquor consumption in Andhra Pradesh? The government believes so, but the opposition disagrees.The Congress government is under attack from different quarters for encouraging liquor consumption as it earned a record Rs.7,000 crore (Rs.70 billion) from auction of liquor shops for two years earlier this week. Liquor shops in rural areas were sold at a much higher price than in towns and cities. Some shops were sold for as high as Rs.5 crore each. The rise in income of rural households under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is said to have pushed the liquor sales in rural areas. Under the NREGS, which guarantees 100 days of rural employment in a year, a beneficiary is earning a minimum of Rs.100 daily. The state, which is a leader in implementing the NREGS in the country, got Rs.6,500 crore from the centre in 2009-10 and is expected to get Rs.10,000 crore in the current fiscal. The number of beneficiaries under the scheme is over 27.5 million. The revenue from the auction has come as a boon for the government facing a financial crunch. But the opposition is targeting it for encouraging liquor consumption in the state. "The government can't be blamed. The people are getting addicted to vices like liquor due to an increase in their income," said Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao too blamed people, saying the government could not be faulted if people were addicted. However, the opposition blames the government for encouraging liquor business. Leader of opposition and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday demanded the government to come out with a white paper on liquor business. "It is very painful that the government is encouraging liquor consumption and backing liquor traders instead of supplying drinking water and providing other basic amenities to people," said Naidu. The former chief minister pointed out that it was the same Congress party which had promised prohibition in a phased manner in the 2004 elections. Naidu alleged that the government relaxed maximum retail price printed on liquor bottle to help liquor traders earn more money in violation of rules and also facilitate kickbacks from them. Congress leaders, however, hit back at Naidu saying he had no right to speak on liquor as it was he who lifted total prohibition in the state. Naidu had lifted prohibition after he unseated his father-in-law and TDP founder N. T. Rama Rao from power in 1995. NTR had imposed prohibition in 1994 following a massive anti-liquor movement by women groups.
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Rosaiah invites President to inaugurate 500 year celebrations

Hyderabad, Jun 11 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has invited President Prathibha Devi Singh Patil to inaugurate the 500th year of coronation of the Vijayanagaram King Srikrishna Devaraya which Andhra Pradesh Government plans to celebrate later this year.In a letter to the President, released to the media here yesterday, Mr Rosaiah said, ''During his rule, Srikrishna Devaraya encouraged and patronised the development of- Telugu language, art, sculpture and culture. Some of the major irrigation tanks constructed by Srikrishna Devaraya are available even today and he is remembered by the people even after 500 years. Srikrishna Devaraya's ''Amukthamalyada'' is a grand original Telugu epic depicting the rich culture, literary traditions and life of the Telugus in those days. The government of Andhra Pradesh have, therefore, decided to celebrate this occasion in a very grand manner.'' The inaugural function will be held on July 5 in Hyderabad and the concluding function will be on August 8, 2010 at Penukonda in Anantapur district (nearer to Bengaluru) which was considered to be the second capital of Srikrishna Devaraya. ''I learnt that Her Excellency takes a lot of interest in preserving the composite culture of the country, and that Her Excellency has planned to inaugurate the Tamil Classical Conference on June 23 at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu'', he added. Mr Rosaiah also said he would be extremely grateful, if Her Excellency conveyed her willingness to grace the celebrations as soon as possible so that necessary arrangements could be made at earliest.
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