Addressing a joint rally with alliance partner the ShiromaniAkali Dal in Ludhiana, BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister NarendraModi called the BJP-SAD alliance an example of Hindu-Sikh unity.

“The alliance of Akali Dal and BJP is not merely for the formation of government but is a symbol of unity. The people of Punjab have put their faith in Parkash Singh Badal and voted for development,” he said.

Modi also rubbished the rumours that Sikhs were being targeted in Gujarat. “Some people are spreading rumours that I’m targeting Sikhs in Gujarat. No Sikh farmer will ever be forced to leave Gujarat. If any official targets Sikh farmers in Gujarat, they will be punished,” he said adding that every Indian has equal rights as he himself does to live in Gujarat.

Hitting out at the Congress over the rising levels of corruption, Modi lambasted the ruling government for saying that the BJP stalled the introduction of anti-graft bills in the Parliament. “Congress leaders are blaming other parties on Corruption? I am surprised. ABCD is indicative of Congress corruption. A for Adarsh, B for Bofors, C for coalgate,” he said.

He also attacked Congress on the issue of the ‘One Rank One Pension’ scheme which has been approved in Parliament in its recently concluded winter session. He said that the Congress has no intentions of implementing the policy and it will be the NDA government which will eventually put the scheme to work.

Speaking at his ‘Fateh’ rally, he made a pitch for improving the agriculture industry and proposed to split up the Food Corporation of India to improve efficiencies. He added that farmers, manufacturing and the service sector are the three pillars which need to be focussed for the development of the country. “The Punjab CM is worried about the farmers and the Deputy CM wants to make it technically advanced. This thought process will help in the development,” he said.

Urging the people of the state to vote for the BJP in the upcoming LokSabha elections, Modi assured that he will work towards the development of the people when he if he comes to power. “If I become the PM, I will be like a guard and will never let anyone steal the wealth of the nation. The national treasure of the money of the poor which is to be used for their development.

Praising the Gujarat Chief Minister during the rally, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal appealed the people to vote for Modi as the next prime minister for the progress of the nation. He also attacked the Congress saying that the nation has gone backwards in the last decade under the Congress’s governance.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh, too, lauded the development work done by Punjab Chief Minister in the state and said that whenever Congress government has come to power, prices have increased and corruption has prevailed.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao’s thanksgiving trip to Sonia Gandhi’s residence on Sunday afternoon once again raised the question: will TRS merge with the Congress ahead of the LokSabha polls?

Accompanied with family members, Mr Rao said the meeting was just a courtesy call.

“No politics was discussed and it was only a thanksgiving call. I met Soniaji to express my gratitude for the passing of Telangana Bill in Parliament. Soniaji asked me to stay in touch with Digvijaya Singh,” said Mr Rao, popularly known as KCR.

TRS sources have indicated that an immediate merger may not be on the cards but a pre-poll alliance is likely. There are 17 LokSabha seats in the Telangana region and for Congress, fighting its toughest elections in the past 10 years, every seat would be crucial.

Aware that the Congress would try to cash in the popular sentiments in Telangana, the BJP, which too made a strong pitch for India’s 29th state, is also trying to get its share of credit.

While Venkaiah Naidu addressed the press today in Hyderabad, earlier this week, when the LokSabha was passing the Telangana Bill, BJP leader SushmaSwaraj said: “Don’t remember only Sonia amma. Also, remember this chinamma (little mother).”

KCR has been at the forefront of the Telangana movement for the last 10 years. He was a TDP leader and Deputy Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly till 2001, before he quit the party and launched TRS to fight for a separate Telangana state.

TRS had joined hands with Congress for the 2004 general elections and Mr Rao was appointed the Labour Minister. The sub-regional party joined the YSR Reddy-led Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, although it quit subsequently.

Sharing power at the Centre and in the state hit Mr Rao’s credibility as the UPA government didn’t fulfill the Telangana demand despite statehood issue being part of the common minimum programme.

Mr Rao had then joined hands with TDP and become part of a “grand alliance” against Congress for the 2009 elections. But his party suffered a serious setback and won only two LokSabha seats and 10 Assembly seats in the region.

Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva has launched a campaign against dress codes in university convocations and Indian courts by calling them colonial vestiges.

According to a report published in India Today, Alva refused to wear the “heavy” hat and black gown at the convocation of Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, on Friday and criticised the dress code as “British colonial legacy” that was not suited to Indian climatic conditions and culture.

On Thursday, the governor had done the same at the convocation of VardahmanMahaveer Open University in Kota. Last month at National Law University, Jodhpur, Alva had come down heavily on the dress code in the courts and expressions like “My Lord”.

“Why do we continue with the archaic British practice of addressing judges as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Lordship’? Should we then address women judges as My Lady,” she had said.
“To make matters worse colonial vestiges, in matters of dress code in courts, continue, the Governor added.

Interestingly, Alva, a law graduate, was a professional lawyer during her initial years.

“I as chancellor have stopped wearing headgear at convocations. We should opt for something based on our traditions, suited to our climate. The bench and the bar need to do the same,” she said. She reiterated her sentiments on Friday when she decided not to wear the headgear and the gown. However, Alva maintained that being autonomous bodies, universities can’t be compelled to do anything.

A 21-year-old Assamese woman was raped here by two men who have been arrested, police said Sunday.

One of the men was known to the woman who recently came to Delhi. Police said she was assaulted at a house in Mahipalpur in south Delhi Saturday afternoon.

As the accused escaped, the woman came out of the house and alerted a passerby before police came in. Police said the accused – Rahul and Harun – were arrested late Saturday.

There has been no headway in the murder case of the TCS employee. A 24-year-old employee’s body was found in a highly decomposed state nine days after she went missing. The body was found half a kilometre from TCS office inside government IT park SIPCOT.
Kelambakkam Police Station Inspector Subbaiah has been suspended for dereliction of duty. The officer did not file complaint, not followed up on the missing person’s case and did not provide adequate security within the SIPCOT IT Park.
The post-mortem is being conducted and report will be out later in the day.
According to the CCTV footage, the girl left alone half an hour early before her shift ends.
Kanchipuram district police have registered a case of suspicious death and are investigating the matter. The police said they do not rule out rape.
After the incident TCS issued a statement saying that her demise was a terrible shock. “Our employee’s untimely demise has been a terrible shock to all of us and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family at this hour of grief. With TCS since February 2013, she was well liked by her colleagues and was someone her team leader could depend on. This shocking incident is a sad reminder of the safety and security risks women face today and as an organization we are working with our employees to continuously strengthen our security measures,” said TCS spokesperson.

In an innovative way to save environment, Rajasthan Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Yunus Khan has approved a project to build roads by using plastic waste and fly ash in Jaipur and Dausa districts.

A total of 24 roads – 19 in Jaipur and five in Dausa – would be built using plastic waste and fly ash under the project approved by the minister yesterday, an official release said last night.

Of the 74 km-long road, plastic waste would be used in the construction of 62 km. Fly ash would be used in the foundation of roads, Khan said.

The minister said use of plastic waste and fly ash is an innovation in road construction to help save environment from pollution and bring down cost as the expenses on tar and other conventional materials would be brought down by 10 per cent.