Women protest against Vinod Ghosalkar outside Dahisar Police station

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January 16, 2014

Women’s organisation protested against Shiv Sena MLA Vinod Ghosalkar and his son, corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar outside Dahisar Police station for mentally harassing Sheetal Mhatre and demanded a complaint to be filed against them.

Shiv Sena MLA Vinod Ghosalkar refuted all claims made against him by Sheetal Mhatre and former Mayor Shubha Raul. Ghosalkar also clarified that he is a Shiv sainik and there is no place for such acts there. Further, Ghosalkar stated that he is ready to face the investigation whenever demanded.

Ghosalkar said, “Senior party leaders Gajanan Kirtikar and Subhash Desai were planning to conduct a probe over this issue. However, they were unable to investigate the matter as both Raul and Mhatre were absent.”

Earlier Sheetal Mhatre had submitted her resignation to the party president Uddhav Thackeray. Both Raul and Mhatre were miffed as they were unable to meet Thackeray despite being given an appointment to have a discussion pertaining to the Ghosalkar issue.

Sheetal Mhatre’s brother Bunty Patil alleged that Ghosalkar was planning to hold a women’s procession at his sister house. After hearing this news, Sheetal’s started getting high blood pressure and later she was admitted to hospital.

National Commission for Women have forwarded a letter to the Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh and asked him to submit a report within 10 days.

Swimming competition to be held in Vashi

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Swimming competition will be organised at Sector 1. Vashi, Navi Mumbai on 18th and 19th January. Ganesh Naik, Revenue and Excise Minister of Navi Mumbai and Thane will inaugurate the event. Children from the age group of 7 to 17 along with adults will participate in the competition. The competition will be held under the leadership of Mayor Sagar Naik.

MP Sanjeev Naik, Navi Mumbai Deputy Mayor Ashok Gawde, MLA Sandeep Naik, politicians like Suresh Kulkarni, L.L Jahad, Anant Sutar, opposition leader Dilip Ghodekar and other politicians will be present at the venue. The winners will be awarded cash prize and certificate of participation.

The organizer Suraj Patil cultural programme committee head requested all the residents of Navi Mumbai to participate in the event. Prize distribution ceremony will be held on January, 19 at 6 pm under the leadership of MLA Sandeep Naik.

Those against Rahul Gandhi within Congress will have to go: Salman Khurshid

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Amid reports that a section of its top leaders are against naming Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the party, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Thursday warned that those who have a problem with the party vice president will have to go.

The External Affairs Minister said, “If anyone has a problem with Rahul, they will have to leave.”

Khurshid, who endorsed Rahul’s nomination as PM candidate, was also quoted as saying, “Time has come for generational change. There shouldn’t be adjustment problems with Rahul. Those who have a problem with him will have to go.”

The reaction from Khurshid came shortly after many top leaders, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rashid Alvi and Oscar Fernandes, backed Rahul’s name for the top job.
While many have voiced support to Rahul Gandhi, a section of its leaders have also expressed reservations over the party projecting him as the face for the 2014 polls.

Few Congress leaders does not want Rahul to be exposed to the tirade of Narendra Modi, the main opposition BJP’s PM candidate.

If sources are to be believed. then instead of being named as the PM candidate, Rahul could be elevated as the Congress working president at the AICC session.

At the moment, the party central leadership is said to weighing all options regarding Rahul Gandhi.

Before making any major announcement on Rahul Gandhi, the party leaders want to deliberate on three main options – conferring him as its prime ministerial candidate, promoting him to Working President, or declaring that he will lead the campaign for the national election that must be held by May.

Rahul, in an interview published recently, had indicated that he is ready for the top job.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already ruled himself out of a third term if the ruling UPA comes back to power. Manmohan has already praised Rahul’s “outstanding credentials”.

If officially nominated, Rahul would take on BJP’s Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Tharoors ‘happily married’ amid Twitter controversy over Pakistani journalist

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

In an indecorous controversy surrounding Shashi Tharoor, the Union Minister’s wife Sunanda Tharoor on Wednesday alleged that her husband was having an “extra-marital affair” with a Pakistan-based journalist.

Talking to a daily, Sunanda also said she would now “seek divorce” from Tharoor. The journalist has threatened to sue Sunanda and Tharoor’s wife has welcomed the scribe’s move.

The furious wife’s statement came shortly after the suave thrice-married human resources minister claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. Notably, some controversial tweets were posted from his account last evening, leaving the followers utterly astonished. The tweets referred to one Mehr Tarar, a Pakistani journalist.

The minister then claimed that his account had been hacked and and will be not functioning for a few days before the issues are sorted out. The controversial tweets, which have now been deleted, showed private exchanges apparently between 57-year-old Tharoor and Mehr Tarar, 45, in which she professed her love for him and he explained that his wife had discovered his adultery.

The controversy was about to die down when Sunanda declared that neither her or her husband’s account has been hacked. As a matter of fact, it was she, who had logged into Tharoor’s account and posted messages that the Lahore-based journalist had sent to her husband. She did it to show the world how Mehr “is stalking my husband”.

Sunanda also dragged up a corruption scandal that nearly wrecked her husband’s career: “Our accounts have not been hacked and I have been sending out these tweets. I cannot tolerate this. This is a Pakistani woman who is an ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) agent, and she is stalking my husband. And you know how men are. He is flattered by the attention. I took upon myself the crimes of this man during IPL (Indian Premier League). I will not allow this to be done to me. I just can’t tolerate this. I have nothing more to say.”

On Thursday, Sunanda, however, denied logged into Tharoor’s account, saying her’s and her husband’s accounts are still not working and Twitter is working on that. Sunanda confirmed that the Pakistani journalist wants to have a life-long relationship with Tharoor, not knowing that he is a happily married man. I am sick and was away for three months for treatment. She followed Shashi to an event and fell in obsession, said the livid wife.

I did send out two-three tweets to the Pakistani journalist’s account, added Sunanda. “The tweets that I sent today were that a woman should stay away from a woman’s husband, it’s not morally right.”

“Shashi is a happily married man with no intention of leaving his wife and his wife has no intention of leaving him,” declared Sunanda.

No Gandhi can save a dead Congress: Maneka Gandhi

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

In probably the sharpest attack so far on the country’s first family – the Gandhi family – one of its prominent member and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday said that neither Sonia Gandhi’s son Rahul nor his sister Priyanka can save Congress.

Coming down heavily on the ruling party, Maneka said, “Congress has party has looted the country in the past ten years. People are so fed with the Congress rule that they are not going to vote for the party in the next elections. No Gandhi can save a dead Congress.”

The senior BJP leader called Congress a sinking ship and said, “Nobody can now save Congress. Corruption and scams have badly tarnished the party’s image and its leaders have constantly looted and cheated the nation in all these years. Congress is in such a situation that no one, not even Rahul Gandhi neither his sister Priyanka can save the party.”

When asked how would she react to media reports that Congress apex leadership is mulling to give a bigger role to Rahul Gandhi, Maneka said, “It will make no difference as who leads the pack of forty thieves.”

When she was reminded that even the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has recently praised Rahul’s “outstanding potential”, the BJP leader said, “I want to ask if the person who said all this has really served as the Prime Minister of the country. The whole country knows that both Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul has kept the reins of power in their own hands. So what difference it will make as who gets what responsibility.”

Calling Congress a party of bad people, Maneka said, “The party urgently needs to change its image and people’s perception about it.”

When asked to comment on reports that Congress is planning to give a major election-related role to Priyanka Gandhi to revive its fortunes in the upcoming polls, “I don’t want to comment on her role. Congress has been projecting Rahul Gandhi for the past ten years but what happened? The situation is so worse for the party that even Priyanka Gandhi’s glamour can’t save the Congress now.”’

Finally, when asked to react on the comparisons being made between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, she said, “Rahul is no match for Modi ji. It is like a battle between a lion and a bird. Modi Ji is an elected leader with huge experience, while Rahul has failed on all fronts. Obviously, he is no match for Modi ji.”

Virbhadra Singh files defamation case against Arun Jaitley, PK Dhumal

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has filed a defamation case against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and PK Dhumal. The three opposition leaders have alleged that the Congress leader accepted Rs. 1.5 crore and Rs. 2.4 crore through cheques in his and his parliamentarian wife Pratibha Singh’s name from Venture Energy and Technology Pvt Ltd, which was executing a power project in the state.

Thakur last week had asked Virbhadra to quit and sought a CBI probe in corruption charges against him.

“Virbhadra Singh claims he is innocent. Why is he shying off from a CBI probe,” Thakur said.

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaitley said: “Virbhadra Singh has dared anyone to either lodge an FIR against him or prove the allegations of corruption”.

“The Congress party and Virbhadra Singh have decided to brazen out the allegations of corruption. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will hide behind silence,” Jaitley wrote on a blog post.

Former Himachal CM Dhumal has claimed that despite most ministers opposed to re-allocating the project to Venture Energy and Technology Pvt Ltd, Virbhadra went ahead with the decision in 2005.

Danish woman’s alleged rapist swapped clothes with her, left evidence: cops

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Police investigating the alleged gang-rape of a Danish woman in Delhi on Tuesday night say they have crucial evidence after learning that one of the alleged rapists allegedly pulled on the woman’s track pants and left her his pair of jeans.

The attacker’s jeans and the woman’s clothes will provide DNA evidence, said police sources.

Two men have been arrested and two others detained for the alleged assault on the 51-year-old tourist near Delhi’s Connaught Place area.

The woman was allegedly attacked by a gang of eight men after she lost her way to her hotel in Paharganj, a popular backpacker area. All eight have been identified. The woman had approached them for directions after visiting a museum, but they took her to a secluded spot before raping her.

The woman, who had arrived in Delhi that day after visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, returned to Denmark yesterday.

She told the police she was held by the men between 4 and 7 pm after which they abandoned her. She then took an auto-rickshaw to her hotel where she confided in a fellow tourist, who asked the owner to phone the police. She says she was robbed and beaten too.

The Danish foreign ministry has said that it is in contact with the Delhi Police to ensure the “prosecution of the guilty.”

“We have in our travel advice referred to the particular risk there is in India for sexual crimes. Obviously we will look at whether we need to sharpen it further,” Denmark foreign ministry spokesman Ole Eberg Mikkelsen said.

The incident has left Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the backfoot weeks after it won massive popular support in state polls with its promise to make the city safer for women.

Will build a house in Amethi to stay unlike Rahul: Vishwas

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas on Thursday said he would build a house in Amethi and live with the people, unlike “Yuvraj” who stays in ‘Rajmahal (palace)’.

Stating that he would not leave Amethi, Vishwas, who is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls in an Aam Aadmi Party ticket from here, said, “I am a servant and not Yuvraj. I will build a house here to stay.”
“He (Rahul) claims that the people of Amethi are his family… But he stays in ‘Rajmahal’ and travel by air while the people here do not have roof over their head… Which type of family relation is this?” he asked.

Mounting attack on the Congress vice president, Vishwas said, “Rahul used to tell tales of development in Amethi but it is not seen anywhere here… He used to lure people by only assurances but now people have started understanding the reality. Now he is resorting to a lot of gimmicks.”

Trying to corner Rahul over the issue of corruption, the AAP leader said he used to talk about corruption but forgot that maximum number of corruption cases came to the fore in the government “patronised” by him.

1,400 kg butter idol of goddess in Himachal Pradesh

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Large numbers of devotees are thronging the Brajeshwari Devi temple here every day to pay obeisance and have glimpse of a 1,400 kg butter idol, temple official said on Thursday.

The 14 quintal butter idol, made by 18 priests, will remain on the ‘pindi’ or iconography of the goddess till January 20, temple official Pawan Patial told a news agency.

He said the butter idol was made by using ‘ghee’ donated by the devotees. The priests, with a unique technique, purified it with water 108 times.

According to legend, when the goddess was injured during a fight with demons, her wounds were treated with butter on Makar Sankranti by gods.

The butter, when removed from the ‘pindi’ on January 20, will be distributed among the devotees. It’s a belief that the butter treats chronic skin ailments and joint pains.

One of the busiest shrines in north India, the Brajeshwari Devi temple sees a majority of pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s book to ‘expose big names in politics’

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Afternoon Voice

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January 16, 2014

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad plans to write a book to expose his rivals.

“I have decided to write a book to expose those who conspired to frame me in fodder scam and sent me to jail,” Lalu Prasad said.

“My book will also reveal a few interesting aspects of Indian politics, including the 1974 student movemement against Emergency as I was part of it under the leadership of socialist veteran Jai Prakash Narain,” he said.
Lalu Prasad said he was made a political victim of propaganda by powerful people, who were threatened by his commitment for social justice.

“My book will be full of real stories and different political ups and downs of over four decades in Bihar and the country. It will also expose big names in politics on how they rose to the peak of power politics,” Lalu said.

He hinted that he will start writing the book after the General Elections as he is currently busy forming a strong secular alliance with the Congress and the Lok Janshakti Party to take on communal forces.

Lalu Prasad was forced to resign as chief minister in 1997 after he was framed in a fodder scam and his wife Rabri Devi succeeded him as the Bihar chief minister.