28 kids kidnapped from Leh rescued from Jammu hostel Read more: 28 kids kidnapped from Leh rescued from Jammu hostel

JAMMU: Twenty-eight children from Ladakh, including four girls, were rescued by the police from a Jammu hostel run by an NGO. Five members of Jammu-based NGO, Youth Movement for Peace (YMP), were arrested after parents complained that the children had been kidnapped.

The children are victims of flash floods in August following a cloudburst in Leh. A police team will take them to their houses in Ladakh. According to a senior police officer, ''The children will be handed over to their parents and the Ladakh Buddhist Council.'' Till then, the police have arranged for their stay in Ladakh-Kargil House near Jammu railway station.

According to police, YMP had visited Leh after the disaster to distribute aid and relief material like blankets. YMP members promised the children a better life and brought them to Jammu after the disaster, said police. They were kept in a rented accommodation in Jammu's Dogra Hall. Some parents complained to the police that the children had been taken away by YMP without their consent.

During a late night raid on Friday at YMP headquarters at Reshamgarh Colony and Dogra Hall, the children were rescued. Five YMP members, including its chairman Vikas Sharma, general secretary Gagandeep Singh and his wife Meenakshi who is a manager at YMP, were arrested.

According to sources, the children were probably brought to Jammu for religious conversion. Earlier, YMP had been accused of conversion and its funding had come under scanner. A police team led by DIG Farooq Khan had begun investigation. During the probe, YMP failed to give satisfactory reasons for bringing the Ladakh children to Jammu, said sources.

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Kashmir was never integral part of India: Arundhati

Activist Arundhati Roy, who created a controversy by questioning Jammu and Kashmir's accession to the Union, on Sunday said the State was never an integral part of India.

“Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian government has accepted this,” the Booker Prize winner said.

Ms. Roy alleged that India became “colonising power” soon after its Independence from the British rule.

She was speaking at a seminar on the theme ‘Wither Kashmir: Freedom or enslavement' organised by the Coalition of Civil Societies (CCS) here.

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Sena everywhere

It does not take the Shiv Sena — or its offshoot, Raj Thackeray’s MNS — much provocation to whip up hysterics over a perceived insult to regional pride. But even by the party’s phenomenal capacity for chauvinism, this has been a particularly fertile period. After establishing its muscle strength to get Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey scrapped from the syllabus at Mumbai University, and then demanding a ban on the burqa, the Sena is now channelling the energies of cadres for a signature campaign against Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. They have taken exception to his reported remark about Biharis having contributed to Maharashtra’s development.The two Senas’ recent history of anti-outsider agitations (primarily targeting low-skilled workers from north India) had been ugly and much publicised. Whether Gandhi made that remark or not is not the issue: the point about the contribution of Biharis is unexceptionable. Maharashtra, like any other part of this country, has obviously benefited from the contributions of people from elsewhere. That is common sense. The worry is that along with small-minded political theatre, the Shiv Sena’s signature campaign could once again create an atmosphere of intimidation in the state, especially in Mumbai. It’s the kind of campaign that primarily needs to be combated politically. For the Congress, especially, it should serve as a notice on the dangers of its state unit’s readiness to fall in line with the Sena’s agenda. Look how meekly Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who belongs to the Congress, appeared to echo the Sena scion on Mistry’s book. If chauvinism and paranoia about wounded pride are settling over the state’s politics, it’s not just because of the Sena’s exertions. It is, even more dangerously, also because other political parties are not willing to counter the Sena’s agenda.

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Question mark over N-deal with Japan; PM says won’t force it

Tokyo: There is question mark on the fruition of a planned civil nuclear deal with Japan, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday saying India will not force the same on Tokyo.

Dr Singh, who is in Japan for an annual summit, said Japan viewed the issue as a sensitive one.

"I recognise the sensitivity of the (nuclear) issue in Japan and therefore I would not force it on you," he said here referring to negotiations for the deal. Today’s remarks are in stark contrast to the confidence expressed by the Prime Minister on Sunday, the day he arrived in the economic powerhouse, when he said that New Delhi was ready to seal the civilian nuclear deal and boost trade ties with Tokyo.

"I am confident that we will be able to conclude an agreement (on a civilian nuclear deal), which will be a win-win proposition for both of us," Dr Singh told a group of Japanese media, before heading to Tokyo from New Delhi to meet his counterpart Naoto Kan on a three-day trip starting Sunday.

According to the PM, India viewed Tokyo as its partner in nuclear energy and a country that has "one of the highest and most advanced nuclear technologies".


India and Japan had initiated talks in June on signing an atomic civilian cooperation agreement that will allow Tokyo to export nuclear power generation technology to energy-hungry India.

But Japan, which was hit by World War II US atomic bombings, has warned India that conducting any new nuclear tests would force a halt to any civilian nuclear cooperation with the South Asian giant, as India has developed nuclear arms without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"With regards to tests, we have unilaterally declared a moratorium on explosive testing and we have no intention" of revising that commitment, Dr Singh said in an interview broadcast by NHK.

The Prime Ministers of the two countries are today expected to declare the completion of talks on an economic partnership agreement (EPA), which Dr Singh said would open up the fast-growing Indian market to Japanese firms.

"I attach great importance to the potential of the economic cooperation," Singh said. The EPA "will boost our trade and economic ties many-fold".

Japan's expertise in technology and India's "fast-extending market", if combined, can bring about "mutually beneficial growth opportunities" for both countries, the PM said, as quoted by Jiji Press.

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Deaths in Pakistan shrine attack

At least four people have been killed in a bomb blast after dawn prayers at a famous Sufi shrine in eastern Pakistan, police say.

Monday's attack at the Baba Farid shrine in the city of Pakpattan, 190km from the provincial capital Lahore, was the latest in the heartland province of Punjab.
Two men riding a motorbike left a milk container near the gate of the shrine in Pakpattan which then exploded in a huge fireball, a witness said.
Local media reported that at least 20 people were also wounded in the bombing.

Sufi worshippers who follow a mystical strain of Islam have frequently been the target of attacks by pro-Taliban groups in Pakistan.
In one of the deadliest strikes, a bomb blast in July at a popular Sufi site in the eastern city of Lahore killed more than 40 people.

On October 7, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a Sufi shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, killing nine worshippers, including two children. Pro-Taliban groups see visits to Sufi shrines and some rituals as un-Islamic. US military offer Bomb attacks in Pakistan killed 10 people last Friday, targeting a military patrol in the tribal belt on the Afghan border and worshippers leaving a mosque in the main northwestern city of Peshawar. The attack on the Sufi shrine in Pakpattan came shortly after the US made an offer of $2bn in fresh military aid to Pakistan, where it wants the military to do more to fight al-Qaeda fighters crossing into Afghanistan from the tribal belt. US brands the area an al-Qaeda headquarters, although there had been a relative lull in violence since Pakistan suffered devastating floods in late July that affected more than 20 million people. More than 3,740 people have been killed in suicide attacks and bomb explosions, blamed on homegrown Taliban and other anti-governments networks, since Pakistani troops stormed a mosque in Islamabad three years ago. Pakistan flatly denies US suggestions it is not doing enough to tackle Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters who have carved out strongholds in the northwest and last year inched closer towards the capital Islamabad.

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BJP asks PMO to clarify Padgaonkar’s Pakistan comment

Mr. Padgaonkar on his part stuck to his remark and maintained that what he had said regarding Pakistan was “obvious” and there was nothing new. The three-member panel is on its first visit to the Kashmir Valley after it was set up 10 days back.

The BJP on Sunday slammed Dileep Padgaonkar, head of the interlocutors’ panel for Jammu and Kashmir, for his comment that Pakistan has to be involved for a permanent solution of the Kashmir issue and demanded that the PMO explain if this was part of the brief to the team.

The journalist also said a dialogue with Pakistan is “as necessary” as the dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir to resolve the Kashmir issue which is a “bilateral dispute going on since 1947-48.”

The BJP said the comments sounded as if the panel was rationalising Pakistan’s stand on its “unfinished agenda” on Kashmir and that it was “arguing” from the Hurriyat angle in this matter.

“The BJP demands that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) immediately clarify if this was part of the brief given to the interlocutors,” party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi.

She expressed the fear that the comments by Mr. Padgaonkar even before it could start its assignment “is unnecessarily internationalising the process.” “What was the Pakistan dimension that the interlocutor was referring to? Is this part of the brief given or has he stepped beyond its (the panel’s) brief?” she questioned.

Mr. Padgaonkar had said on Saturday that the panel is in Jammu and Kashmir to look for a permanent solution to the Kashmir dispute but a permanent solution is not possible without the involvement of Pakistan.

Mr. Padgaonkar told PTI in Srinagar on Sunday that the panel had not been given any brief by the government and pointed to Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement that there are no red lines.

“What I have said with regard to Pakistan is the obvious. I have not said anything that has not been said before.

“I have not exceeded my brief as we did not get any brief. The Home Minister has said there are no red lines or boundaries. We know what we are doing,” Mr. Pandgaonkar said.

He recalled that Parliament had also passed a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir, asking Pakistan to vacate those areas which it has occupied. “This shows that there is a Pakistan dimension to these issues,” he said.

Ms. Sitharaman said “The comments sound as if they are rationalising Pakistan’s stand on its unfinished agenda on Kashmir. Furthermore, it seems as if the panel is arguing from the Hurriyat angle in this matter.”

Asked whether the party would seek recall of the panel, the BJP spokesperson said, “At this stage we want the Prime Minister to say whether this was (the statements) part of their brief.”

Mr. Padgaonkar, however, said Pakistan had been involved in the Kashmir issue since 1947 and the Indian government had recently stated it was “ready to walk more than half the distance” to settle all matters with Pakistan.

He said the usage of words to describe the problem in the state was not as important as to find a way out.

“We have to put the terrible situation that the state has suffered during the past 63 years behind us and the only way to do that is through a sustained dialogue, which can lead to a comprehensive solution,” he said.

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National heritage status for elephant hailed

The declaration of the elephant as the National Heritage Animal of India on Thursday by the Union government has received hearty welcome from animal lovers. The decision has special significance in Kerala because the State has a large number of captive elephants and the manner in which they are kept has been constantly questioned by animal lovers.

In fact, Kerala is a State where the figure of human-captive elephant conflict is very high and this is often attributed to a natural reaction from the side of the animal to the cruelty to which it is being often subjected.

The National Heritage Animal status for the elephant was one of the important recommendations of 12-member Elephant Task Force which submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on August 31.

The government accorded the prestigious status for the elephant following the approval of the Elephant Task Force recommendation by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife at its meeting on October 13. Project Elephant Director A.N. Prasad has said it will be notified in the Gazette of India soon.

Private ownership

Animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi told The Hindu that she wholeheartedly welcomes the decision. But now since the elephant has been declared a National Heritage Animal there can no more be private ownership of elephants for the simple reason that a National property cannot be owned by private individuals.

All temples and private individuals owning elephants should immediately surrender them to the government. But, has the machinery for that been constituted, she asked. So, in the first place, the setup for that has to be evolved and then there should be rescue centres for such elephants. There should also be clarity on the punishment for private individuals if they happen to keep this National Heritage Animal. Unless there are subsidiary rules, the declaration may not serve its purpose, she said.

Important step

Elephant Task Force member Suparna Ganguly has said that she is absolutely motivated and excited over the declaration. This should have been done many years ago. The present precarious condition of elephants in India warrants more resources. The moot point is that if the world needs the elephant India has to take the lead for it and the declaration is one important step in that direction.

Animal rights activist A.G. Babu has said he will welcome the decision in all laudable terms. But it has to be ensured that the declaration does not remain only on paper. Already there is a heritage status for the elephant as people see it as Lord Ganesha. In spite of that the animal in captivity is subjected to untold cruelty. It has to be ensured now that better days have dawned for the elephants, especially for those in captivity, he said.

Former president of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad M.K. Prasad has said that the elephant richly needs the status. Though a huge animal the elephant never evokes fear in human minds, at least in India. He hopes the national status will bring an end to the untold cruelty to which captive elephants are subjected to at the hands of man.

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Kirsten wanted Indian team to reach SA a week in advance

The players might not have told the Cricket Board about skipping the forthcoming ODI series against New Zealand to prepare for the South African tour but coach Gary Kirsten had wanted the team to reach his home country a week in advance.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said yesterday that no communication was sent from top players to the Cricket Board desiring to skip the ODI series against New Zealand but it turned out that it was Kirsten who mooted the idea of some senior players going to South Africa in advance.

Kirsten, in a letter to BCCI secretary N Srinivasan a few months ago, had expressed his desire to prepare for the South Africa tour that immediately follows the home ODI and Test rubber against New Zealand by allowing the team to reach the rainbow nation a week in advance.

According to Kirsten, the seven-eight players who play all forms of the game for the country needed rest and he, therefore, wanted the Test series against the Kiwis to be reduced from three to two which, however, has not happened as the rubber now involves three matches as originally planned.

"I wanted to check with you if there had been any further developments on the proposed schedule sent to you by the team management for the Australian and New Zealand series. We also discussed the issues around the schedule before the IPL in Chennai, especially the importance of getting to South Africa early," Kirsten said in his earlier communication to BCCI.

"I understand the commitments the BCCI has to honour with the FTP and television and I know it is a difficult process for you. I do, however, request your consideration of the proposed schedule for pure 'cricketing reasons' on the basis that it will give us the best chance of success, especially in this very demanding five months of cricket ahead. The extra week that could be created so we can get to South Africa earlier, I believe will be crucial to our chances of success.

"That said I'm also ofthe opinion that we should play two tests against NZ and not three. My reason for this is that we are expecting too much from the seven or eight players that play all forms of the game. They play more cricket than any other cricketer in the world (especially if you include IPL as well) and we are regularly picking up 'overuse' injuries," Kirsten explained.

BCCI sources have recently indicated that the Board will send the key Test players early to South Africa to prepare well for the tough series in a country where they had not done so well on previous visits.

"We are planning to send the key Test players to South Africa early to prepare for the series. The conditions in South Africa are quite different and we want to give our players enough time to come to terms with the conditions," a BCCI source said a few days ago.

Read more at: http://cricket.ndtv.com/storypage.aspx?id=SPOEN20100157704&nid=61962&cp

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Ramgopal Varma's 'Rakht Charitra' faces TDP heat

Hyderabad:  Filmmaker Ramgopal Varma has been forced to censor his latest release Rakht Charitra, under pressure from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Party activists vented their ire on posters of Rakht Charitra and Ramgopal Varma in different parts of Andhra Pradesh. They were angry that the film has shown a character, who they feel is inspired by their party founder late N T Rama Rao, encouraging and taking advantage of gang wars in the state's Rayalaseema region, for his political benefit.

"NTR was never afraid of anything. To show such a person as encouraging factionalism is not correct. You cannot damage the sentiments of people and his followers. You cannot say let family members see it, and if they object we will remove, it is not correct," TDP president Chandrababu Naidu said.
The NTR controversy has come as a surprise but Varma maintains Shatrughan Sinha is playing a character called Shivaji Rao, not NTR.

"There is no NTR. Shatrughan Sinha is playing the role of Shivaji. His name is Shivaji Rao," Varma said.

Producers of the film have, however, decided to remove the portions being considered objectionable in the Telugu version to ensure the film has a peaceful run.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ramgopal-varma-s-rakht-charitra-faces-tdp-heat-61956?cp

The police had feared that the film that released on Friday would provoke angry reactions from supporters of real-life warlords in the region, but the gangsters seemed pleased with the film.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ramgopal-varma-s-rakht-charitra-faces-tdp-heat-61956?cp

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Sena launches signature campaign against Rahul Gandhi

Continuing its tirade against Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena has launched a signature campaign in suburban Dombivali to condemn his alleged "anti-Marathi" comments. Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, who was in Dombivali on Sunday ahead of local Municipal Corporations polls, initiated the campaign with ally BJP appealing people to participate.

"Who contributed to Maharashtra? Tilak-Agarkar (political leaders and social reformers) or Biharis. Condemn Rahul Gandhi for being anti-Marathi," was the message written on a huge 20 feet board, which was signed by Uddhav first.

Following the Sena leader, hundreds of people signed the board and shouted anti-Rahul slogans in Mumbai on Sunday.

Uddhav had on Friday targeted Rahul for his reported remarks, during an election rally, on Biharis contributing to Maharashtra's economy.

Asserting that this was an insult to Marathi people, Uddhav said Maharashtra was built by people like Chhatrapati Shivaji, Mahatma Phule and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

"I have no problems with Biharis but when Rahul Gandhi goes to Bihar why does he drag in Maharashtra," he asked.

Rahul had reportedly said that the people of Bihar were being thrown out of Maharashtra and Mumbai even though they had made a major contribution to the development of Maharashtra.

Thackeray said that the party would not tolerate such comments and would launch protests all over the state.

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CWG broadcast scam: SIS Live denies charges

New Delhi:  The broadcast rights deal for the Commonwealth Games, worth Rs. 246 crore, is being thoroughly investigated. After allegations of favouritism and wrongdoing were leveled against SIS Live, a UK-based company that won the broadcasting rights, the company has denied all charges.

SIS Live said it never earned excessive profits or paid sub-contractors anything less than the market rates.

In an official statement the company said:

SIS Live has paid all service tax due in accordance with the regulations; the last payment being made in October, the next payment is due in January 2011.

SIS Live has kept proper accounts and copies of bills. These are administered by our central service centre in the UK, and operated online from India. Since the I-T Department visit to our project office in Delhi on October 5, we have provided all the documents requested - over 2,500 - within the agreed timescale.

At no time were any SIS Live offices 'raided' or any of its bank accounts 'frozen'.

Currently, much more than 20 per cent of the contract value is outstanding, as was expected at this stage under the contract terms.

David Meynell, the Managing Director of SIS Live said "SIS Live was part of the team which worked tirelessly during the run up to the Games, under incredibly difficult conditions and circumstances, to ensure all the venues were broadcast-ready in time."

"Any suggestion that SIS Live has earned excessive profits and/or paid any sub-contractors anything less than market rates is entirely erroneous. Indeed, the enormous challenges presented and overcome by SIS Live in delivering world class coverage of the XIX CWG in Delhi 2010 have contributed to ensuring that any profit made from this event is extremely modest," Meynell added.

He also said that "We are very proud of the coverage which we have produced and have been delighted by the feedback received from broadcasters around the world. To now see these reports of unqualified accusations is deeply upsetting, particularly for all the staff who worked so hard to cover the event. All are completely groundless and some, frankly, outrageous."

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/cwg-broadcast-scam-sis-live-denies-charges-61758?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/cwg-broadcast-scam-sis-live-denies-charges-61758?cp

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Know Your Star

Birthday Suite: Kareena Kapoor

  

In Bollywood, Kareena Kapoor is the synonym of Endurance. With the burden of a mighty surname to live up to, Bebo has earned stardom the hard way, to establish herself as one of the top actresses of Bollywood.

This Kapoor scion has seen both the peaks and abysses of fame, and is one of the very few stars of her generation who can also act!

Here is a pictorial tribute to Kareena on her 30th birthday.
Source: India Syndicate
 

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Rakhi Sawant unveils 'Rakhi Ka Insaaf'

Murder, robbery, drugs or extra-marital affairs -- whatever the problems, item girl Rakhi Sawant - who has a knack for getting into controversies - will now be seen solving problems on 'Rakhi Ka Insaaf'.
Known for her glamorous and often outrageous avatar, Rakhi looks forward to connecting with masses and common people through the show that will be aired on Imagine TV.
"I always wanted a show where I could come face-to-face with aam janta. This show will help me in solving their problems in my unique style. Mujhe kanooni daav pech nahi aate (I don't know legal terminology), but I know how to think from my heart. I will not provide any legal assistance to anyone, but I will listen to their problems and give the best solution that I can," says Rakhi.
 

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Siren of the Week: Minissha Lamba

Minissha perfected the girl-next-door act in films such as 'Yahaan' and 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'. With 'Kidnap', she graduated into Bollywood's glam club. Cover shoots and endorsements followed... and she became a constant fixture on the Bollywood mindspace.

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