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Telangana Bill has to wait another day in Rajya Sabha, PM reaches out to BJP

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Afternoon Voice
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The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned for the day without being able to take up the Telangana bill that the Lok Sabha approved on Tuesday under controversial circumstances, with live telecast cut off.

The BJP wants a constitutional amendment in the Bill, which would not only require two thirds majority to clear, but will also need to go back to the lower house for ratification. It has sought a total of 20 amendments to help pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha.

There are two days remaining of this the last session of Parliament before national elections due by May.

Sources say Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has requested the PM to give special category status to Seemandhra. This is being seen as an attempt to meet half way the BJP’s demands for a special package.

The BJP had helped pass the bill in the Lok Sabha. Now it wants a constitutional amendment to empower a common governor to be custodian of security for the 10 years that the two states will share a common capital in Hyderabad. It also wants included a compensation package for Seemandhra, the non-Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh which fears a smaller share of water, power and revenue once the new state is carved out.

The government must pass the bill in both Houses of Parliament by Friday. Disruptions have continued in both houses.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached out to the BJP, meeting senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu to break the impasse.

The BJP has asked the Rajya Sabha chairman to ensure proper discussion on the bill. It wants to ensure all parties get a chance to debate the bill, unlike the way it was passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday with many parties protesting. Union minister Rajeev Shukla on will bring introduce the bill in the Upper House on Thursday.
Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned as Chief Minister and quit his Congress party. “Linking the bifurcation of the state to political gains is wrong,” Mr. Reddy said. “I tried my best to prevent Telangana. Sorry, I couldn’t.”

Union minister P Chidambaram told that Mr. Reddy should have been asked to resign “much sooner.”

Protests against Telangana took an ugly turn in the Rajya Sabha, as a TDP MP, C Ramesh, tried to snatch papers from the Secretary General, and ended up hitting him on the chin. The MP apologised to the house later. There were repeated disruptions in both houses.

Death for three men who gang-raped teen, poured acid on her and gouged out her eyes

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Afternoon Voice
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Three men who gang-raped a 19-year-old girl in Delhi in February 2012, poured acid on her and later gouged out her eyes with a screwdriver have been sentenced to death by a city court.

The teenager’s mutilated and decomposed body was found in a village in Haryana three days after she was kidnapped on her way home from her office in Gurgaon. Her body also bore cigarette burn marks.

According to the prosecution, the convicts repeatedly raped and brutalized her for three days before she died. Two of the convicts were brothers. The prosecution said they had planned revenge on the girl, who had rejected their advances.

The Delhi Police had asked for the death sentence for the rapists saying their crime was in the rarest of rare category. The prosecution also told the court that the convicts had not shown any remorse during the trial. The trio was convicted on Thursday.

The girl, who worked as a data entry operator in Gurgaon, was kidnapped by the three men near her house in Qutub Vihar area of Delhi. She was allegedly raped and tortured till she died on February 9, 2012.

All in the name of democracy: After pepper spray; now netas strip, slap

By
Afternoon Voice
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democracyWho better than the elected representatives can put “sincere” efforts to make India live up to its promise of being a ‘land full of surprises’. Be it MPs or MLAs, all of them strive to improve our image, each passing day.

Even before the country could digest the utter senseless act by Andhra MP L Rajagopal, when he used the pepper spray to terrorize the Parliament into submission against the creation of Telangana, others of his ilk have raised the bar on what all is acceptable inside the hallowed precincts of Parliament and state assemblies, where people’s representatives gather to find solutions to the problems faced by the teeming millions.

After the Lok Sabha passed the Telangana Bill amid a controversial media blackout and slogan shouting, the ‘scene’ shifted to the Rajya Sabha today.

As expected, it was pandemonium from the word go. Things turned for the worse after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP, CM Ramesh, snatched papers from Secretary General Shumsher K Sheriff’s and hit at the mike on his table.

Ramesh lost his cool when Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked Sherrif to read the message from Lok Sabha, which obviously included a mention about passage of the Telangana Bill.

And, for the record – just for it – Rajya Sabha is the “House of Elders”.

While the drama in Parliament is far from over, matters were no better in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly today.

Here, PDP MLA Syed Bashir slapped an assembly security official at least thrice when the latter tried to force him out of the house on the orders of the Speaker. Bashir had tried to storm into the well of the house.

Bashir has been at the forefront of the Opposition’s attacks on the National conference government over the controversy surrounding the molestation charges against former health minister Shabir Khan.

But Bashir’s antics can’t hold a candle to the level of theatrics witnessed in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

In Lucknow, two Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MLAs chose to remove their kurtas inside the Assembly to protest against the anti-farmer policies of the Akhilesh Yadav government.

As soon as the proceedings of the joint house began at 11 am, BSP members climbed on their benches displaying banner and placards to highlight what they called the failure of the Samajwadi government and demanded dismissal of the government.

Not willing to be outsmarted, RLD MLAs – Veer Pal and Sudesh Sharma – took off their kurtas to treat the house with a good view of their naked torso; all for a cause of course – they were demanding payment of sugarcane dues.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam Khan counter-attacked and said they were shameless people, who have no right as they have looted the people of the state.

Later, Khan, while talking to reporters, quipped that it would have been better if the MLAs had taken off their pyjamas as well.

The address by Governor B L Joshi could not be heard amid the din and lasted for barely three to four minutes after which he left.

It is not the first time that MPs and MLAs have resorted to theatrics, bordering hooligan, inside the house and let’s be assured that it would not be the last time.

From MLAs doing half-monty to a CM sleeping on the streets, it is all done in the name of democracy and the ‘Aam Aadmi’. And, they say democracy is maturing by the day.

Chidambaram wants to boost revenue by taxing my speeches: Modi

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Afternoon Voice
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Continuing his verbal spat with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the union minister is working hard to boost the country’s revenues by imposing service tax on his speeches.

“The Finance Minister claims to be doing a lot of hard work. Last evening I was informed on what he is working so hard…To increase India’s revenue, he has decided to impose service tax on my speeches,” Modi said.

“Even my speeches are contributing to the nation and I am happy to know this,” he said while addressing a seminar on ‘Financial Services- a key driver for economic growth’ at Gujarat International finance Tec-city (GIFT).

The central government should concentrate on job creation, Modi said.

The war of words between Modi and Chidambaram has been going on for some time now in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Commenting on the vote-on-account presented by the Finance Minister, Modi had earlier tweeted: “The only solace one gets from the vote-on-account is that this was UPA’s final act of misery after a decade of decay and policy paralysis.”

“It is upto the people to decide whether the Economist PM & FM have been ‘hard working’ or ‘hardly working’ in their tenure,” Modi had said in another tweet.

Earlier, Chidambaram had said that Modi’s knowledge on economy can be written behind a postal stamp.

Replying to that criticism, Modi had accused Chidambaram of mishandling economy and taunted him a few days ago saying that high growth rate in Gujarat was because of his hard work and not education in Harvard University.

Chidambaram had hit back at Modi in his interim Budget speech saying, “My mother and Harvard taught me the value of hard work.”

Maulana Masood Azhar planning to target elections in India?

By
Afternoon Voice
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Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader Maulana Masood Azhar is planning to launch suicide attacks in India during major elections rallies ahead of General Elections, reports claimed on Wednesday.

Azhar, one of the three terrorists released by India to end the Kandahar hijack in 1999, has also planned a plane hijack , with smaller airfields being the target.

Intelligence reports suggest that the JeM founder had recently in a rally held in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir said that he has a team of suicide bombers ready to attack India.

“There are 313 fidayeen (fighters who are ready to die) in this gathering and if a call is given the number will go up to 3,000,” he told the rally held in the city of Muzaffarabad by telephone. A Reuters journalist who was present said a telephone was held next to a microphone which broadcast his comments to loudspeakers.

Earlier reports had claimed that Azhar had vowed to eliminate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi if he becomes Prime Minister.

According to reports, JeM’s Pakistan-based founder Azhar had issued the warning in the outfit’s online weekly magazine al-Qalam.

Besides JeM founder Massod Azhar, Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Md Hafiz Saeed has also issued similar threats to Modi, who is BJP’s PM nominee for 2014 polls.

Azhar was arrested in Kashmir in 1994 while travelling on a forged Portuguese passport. India freed him and two other jailed Pakistani militants in 1999 in return for 155 passengers held hostage in an Indian Airlines aircraft that was hijacked to southern Afghanistan.

Naxals have close links with foreign Maoist groups

By
Afternoon Voice
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Naxals have close links with foreign Maoist organisations in Philippines, Turkey and a few other countries and possibility of their front outfits getting foreign funds cannot be ruled out, Rajya Sabha was informed.

“The CPI (Maoist) have close links with foreign Maoist organisations in Philippines, Turkey etc. The outfit is also a member of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia. The Maoist parties of South Asian countries are members of this conglomerate,” Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said replying a written question.

The Minister said the recovery of arms and ammunition of foreign origin from Left Wing Extremists in different encounters is an indication of the fact that the outfit is procuring weapons from external sources.

Moreover, the possibility of some front organisations of the CPI (Maoist) clandestinely getting foreign funds cannot be ruled out.

“Inputs indicate that some senior cadres of the Communist Party of Philippines imparted training to the cadres of CPI (Maoist) in 2005 and 2011,” he said.

The LWE groups have participated in seminars conducted in Belgium and Germany. The so-called ‘People’s War’ being waged by the CPI(Maoist) against the Indian state has also drawn support from several Maoist fringe organisations located in Germany, France, Turkey, Italy etc.

Singh, however, said no specific intelligence inputs are available to indicate that the Naxals are getting financial assistance from external agencies or other countries.

Mamata responded to my demands, will support her, not Kejriwal: Anna

By
Afternoon Voice
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Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday came all out in support of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying she should be the next Prime Minister of the country. He also said he will campaign for all Trinamool Congress candidates ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“I support Mamata, not for her party, but I support her views on the society and the country. I support her values and intentions,” Anna said in a joint press conference with Mamata Banerjee.
He said Mamata banerjee was the only Chief Minister who responded to the 17 demands sent in a letter by him to every CM. “These 17 points can help us change the country for the better, Mamata says these will adopted if she comes to power,” Anna said.
He said he had full faith in Mamata. “Many people may question whether Didi would fulfil these demands after coming to power. But I have full faith in Mamata. These 17 points can indeed fulfil the economic needs of the country,” Anna said.
Hitting out at Aam Aadmi Party leader and his former aide Arvind Kejriwal, Anna said there is no question of supporting him. “Arvind Kejriwal didn’t reply to my 17 demands, there’s no question of supporting him,” Anna said.

A monkey showers Rs. 50,000 on Harisinghpur villagers

By
Afternoon Voice
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Monkeys are known for being notorious, but what if their fun costs you Rs 50,000. Something like this happened with a school teacher in Harisinghpur.

A monkey not just looted Rs 50,000 from him, it went around the village throwing the notes.

For almost two hours the villagers followed the monkey and managed to collect Rs 46,000.

Do it my way, says Salman Khan

By
Afternoon Voice
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salmansohail-and-arbaazIt seems that Salman Khan is not only particular about his own hair, but is also finicky about his co-stars’ appearance. Sources say that at a recent shoot for SajidNadiadwala’sKick, Salman walked in late only to express his displeasure over co-star Jacqueline Fernandez’s hairdo.

According to a source, Jacqueline, who plays the female lead in the film, had already shot a few scenes when Salman arrived on the sets and appeared displeased with her hairdo. “He asked it to be redone, following which Jacqueline’s hair and make-up artist started all over again. After this, the song was re-shot,” says the source.

It seems that this is not the first time that Salman has pulled such a stunt. Sources say that even while shooting for Jai Ho, he took a keen interest in actress Daisy Shah’s look and had some scenes reshot.

Hrithik doesn’t need body doubles, insists on performing the stunts himself

By
Afternoon Voice
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Hrithik-Roshan-GymActor HrithikRoshan will do the action sequences for his upcoming film ‘Bang Bang’ on his own.

There were reports that a body double was arranged for Hrithik, 40, for his stunts in ‘Bang Bang’ in view of his brain surgery.

However, an insider said that when Hrithik reached Shimla, he was not happy with the scenes so he wanted to shoot it himself. But the body doubles will be available on sets all the time.

“Hrithik will do the action sequences on his own. The stunts are designed by Andy Armstrong who was working on ‘Spider Man 2’,” a source close to the development said.

“Hrithik has always done his own stunts and he does not like body doubles. All the stunts are designed in a unique way making it interesting for Hrithik to do it on his own,” the source said.

It was during the making of ‘Bang Bang’ that Hrithik suffered an injury and had to undergo a brain surgery last year.

The film stars Katrina Kaif opposite Hrithik.

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