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Actor Deven Verma passes away

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Deven Verma passed away in Pune following a cardiac arrest. Photo: Indian Express

Deven Verma passed away in Pune following a cardiac arrest. Photo: Indian Express

Pune: Veteran Bollywood character actor and filmmaker Deven Verma, who delivered memorable performances in films like “Angoor” and “Khatta Meetha”, died here early Tuesday following a heart attack and kidney failure, family sources said. He was 77.

He is survived by his wife Rupa Ganguly, the younger daughter of the late legendary actor Ashok Kumar.

Verma breathed his last around 2 am at his home in Pune, the city of his birth from where he graduated in politics and sociology before joining the film industry.

The actor also featured in movies such as “Angoor”, “Chori Mera Kaam”, “Andaz Apna Apna”, “Bemisal”, “Judaai”, “Dil To Paagal Hai”, and “Kora Kagaz”.

His funeral will be performed Tuesday afternoon at the Yerawada crematorium.

(IANS)

Communal tension grips Kalol town after midnight clash

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Representational Image

Representational Image

Vadodara/Indian Express: Communal tension gripped Kalol town, situated around twenty kilometres from Godhra, after two Muslim youths were allegedly beaten up by a group of five Hindu youth who objected to their participation in a Hindu marriage late Sunday night.

The victims, Rafiq Jarodia and Shahid Morza, along with complainant Wasim Sheikh had gone to attend the ceremony of a friend, Bhavdipsinh Sisodia on invitation.

One of the invitees, Sunny Joshi saw them and objected to their participation in a “Hindu marriage” and asked them to leave. According to the FIR, n ot long after the marriage procession arrived at the Kalol college compound, the Muslim boys left the venue and were walking towards parking lot.

As they were preparing to leave, they were chased and rounded up by five persons named in the FIR – Sunny Joshi, Sandip Tadvi, Dipesh, Parth Kanojia and Akshay Soni. Rafiq and Shahid were allegedly beaten up with iron rod and bricks by fhe accused around mid night onSunday, who allegedly said they disliked Muslims participating in Hindu marriage, FIR filed at Kalol police station stated.

One of the two had to be admitted to a private hospital. The injured was later referred to the civil hospital in Vadodara.

Upon hearing of the incident, hundreds of Muslims from around Kalol gathered near the bus stand to mark their protest, upon which police teams from Godhra had to be rushed to take situation under control. “The matter was soon brought under control and Muslims were dispersed. The situation is under control,” police said.

Two persons have been arrested in this connection and police are looking for other accused in the FIR. They have been booked under sections 143, 147, 149, 307, 504, and 507 (2) of IPC and section 135 of GP Act, police said. EoM.

Church gutted in East Delhi, Archbishop asks PM to order judicial enquiry

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The alter of the St Sebastian Church was completely gutted on Monday. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)

The alter of the St Sebastian Church was completely gutted on Monday. Photo: Ravi Kanojia, Indian Express

New Delhi: A Catholic church in East Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area, St Sebastian’s Church, was completely gutted in a fire this morning. Church authorities alleged the fire was an attempt at triggering religious polarisation ahead of the Delhi polls, likely early next year.

On the complaint of Church priest Fr. Anthony Francis, the police have registered an FIR against unknown outsiders for causing the fire with malicious intent. Senior officers of Delhi police, the Special Branch and the Forensic Crime unit came to the spot after many hours, and once the agitated members of the Catholic community blocked the roads in the area. Samples were retrieved from the inside of the church, which was still smelling of fuel oil.

The forensic team found traces of kerosene inside the church premises, which led the police to conclude that the attack was pre-meditated.

A case of “mischief by fire” has been lodged and the police are questioning several persons, among them the watchman of the church.

The police will come out with a final report after the forensic team finalises its findings.

The authorities found out about the fire around 6.30 am after the watchman, who came in for work around that time, informed them. There was no security guard at the church between 5 and 6 am, which was when the authorities thought the fire started.

There was no casualty since the church was empty at the time.

“It seems to be a deliberate act as we could smell kerosene on the spot. It has been a very emotional day for us,” Father Stanley Kozhichira, of the Delhi archdiocese told the media.

Delhi Archbishop Rev. Anil Couto, has in a memorandum to Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh, called on them to urgently order a judicial enquiry into the burning.

Addressing the media, Archbishop Couto said apart from the judicial enquiry, the government must repair the building before Christmas, ensure that policemen guilty of dereliction of duty are punished, and special police investigation teams are set up to trace the guilty.

The church was built in 2001. Almost 3000 people attend the Sunday mass.

Representative of church at the protest site. Photo: Krishna Vamsi

The Christian community cutting across denominations, and civil society have decided to protest at the offices of the Police Commissioner of Delhi on Tuesday morning to focus attention on the attempts to polarize the people in Delhi state which goes to the polls soon, and the continued persecution of Christians in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh and other tribal and rural areas.

On Sunday, 30th November 21014, two house churches in Annupur district of Madhya Pradesh were attacked. Earlier in November, catholic priests in the Bastar region in Chhatisgarh were told all their schools were to install statues of Goddess Saraswati and they would not be allowed to be called “Father”, the usual honorific, by the students, but would be called “Acharya”. In other districts of Chhartisgarh, village panchayats under political influence have passed regulations banning non-Hindu religious persons from organising prayers or opening places of worship in their territory.

Maoists gun down 13 CRPF troopers in Chhattisgarh

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Maoists-CRPF-Chhattisgarh

Sukma: Maoists Monday gunned down 13 CRPF troopers engaged in an operation aimed at flushing out the rebels from a thickly forested area of Chhattisgarh, police sources said.

The deadly attack, the worst in months, also killed two officers – a deputy commandant and an assistant commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force.

The incident took place near Chintagufa area in Sukma district, Additional Director General of Police R.K. Vij told IANS. “We have suffered a major casualty.”

The Maoists fire indiscriminately from all sides at a joint contingent of the CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police. “Suddenly there was heavy firing from almost everywhere,” Vij told IANS.

He said the security forces were engaged in a major combing operation when the Maoists sprayed bullets.

The attack site is about 500 km south of capital Raipur. The area is cut off from all communication networks.

Officials at the state police headquarters said Chintagufa was a den of Maoists where they have had several major hideouts since the 1990s.

One officer said the security forces were often scared to carry out anti-Maoist operations in the area.

“The casualty is basically due to lack of solid intelligence,” said a CRPF officer posted at Sukma’s Dornapal base camp.

“We failed to know that Maoists had assembled in hundreds in the area with sophisticated weapons to take on the CRPF.

“But we have to admit that getting specific intelligence in the insurgent-commanded jungle war zone has always been a difficult task,” the officer told IANS.

The attack site is part of Bastar region that is spread out over 40,000 square km. In almost the entire forested interiors, the rebels run a parallel government.

In the past six months the insurgents had come under heavy pressure from both the paramilitary troopers and the state police.

(IANS)

B S Yeddyurappa's nephew arrested in cheating case

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Yeddyurappa

Mysuru: A nephew of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has been arrested by police for cheating a man after receiving huge amount of money.

Yeddyurappa’s sister’s son Rajesh was arrested by Hanumanthanagar police in Bengaluru on Monday following a complaint by K G Krishnappa, resident of Banashankari in Bengaluru.

In the year 2008, when the Yeddyurappa government came to power, Rajesh had allegedly promised to get 11 acres of land, previously owned by Krishnappa at Mogaralli on KRS Road, denotified.

The land had been acquired by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board from Krishnappa in the year 2007.Rajesh had received Rs 20 lakh cash, a cheque amounting to Rs 20 lakh, and a Honda City car from Krishnappa in return for the favour. However, he failed to get the land denotified, as per the complaint.

Krishnappa filed a complaint with Police Commissioner, Bengaluru on September 28, 2011. Shortly after, Rajesh too filed a complaint against Krishnappa with the Banashankari police, stating that the latter had been threatening him. Hanumanthanagar police also seized the Honda City car found at Rajesh’s house.

Polling for 2nd phase Jharkhand Assembly election begins

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jharkhand-POLLS

Ranchi: Polling began today at 7 am in 20 Maoist-affected constituencies amid tight security in the 2nd phase of Assembly election to the Jharkhand Assembly, with polling personnel airdropped in the remote parts of the state.

An electorate of 44,31,900, including 21,72,982 women, is eligible to vote in 5,048 polling stations across seven districts to elect 223 candidates, said Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer P K Jajoria.

There are 35 women among the candidates with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, BJP and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) nominating four women each.

Polling began at 7 am in all 20 constituencies. While it will end at 5 am at Jamshedpur (West) and Jamshedpur (East) seats, the exercise will end at 3 pm in the rest of the seats, Jajoria said.

Inspector-General of Police M L Meena said there were 1,424 supersensitive and 2,048 sensitive polling stations and added that polling personnel were airlifted to remote areas to be brought back by air after the polling.

The November 25 first phase election covering 13 Maoist-affected constituencies had ended peacefully, recording 62 per cent votes.

The CPI (Maoist) and the People’s Liberation Front of India are the banned extremist outfits operating in several rural areas across the seven districts – Seraikella-Kharsawan, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Khunti, Simdega, Ranchi and Gumla where the 20 Assembly segments are situated.

The BJP is contesting in 18 seats in this phase, leaving two – Tamar and Jugsalai – for its pre-poll alliance partner, the AJSU Party.

The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM-Prajatantrik) and Trinamool Congress are contesting in a pre-poll alliance, with the JVM-P fielding candidates in 18 seats, conceding two seats to the TMC.

Ruling allies JMM and Congress, who parted ways just before the Assembly election, are contesting against each other in all 20 constituencies.

In this phase, RJD and JD(U) are not in the fray. A Prominent among the candidates are incumbent Agriculture minister Banna Gupta (Jamshedpur -West), HRD minister Geetashree Oraon (Sisai) and Industry minister Champai Soren (Seraikella).

Former chief ministers Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda are the other figures trying their luck.

Former IAS officer J B Tubid, who took voluntary retirement to join the BJP, is contesting from Chaibasa, while former MLA Surya Singh Besra is fighting from the Potka seat.

(PTI)

Former Maharashtra CM A.R. Antulay passes away

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AR Antulay

Mumbai: Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a veteran Congressman Abdul Rahman Antulay, widely known as A. R. Antulay passed away on Tuesday morning. He was 85. He also served as the Union Minister for Minority Affairs in the UPA-I government.

The funeral will take place at his native Ambet village in the state’s Raigad district on Wednesday, said news agency PTI.

The veteran Congress leader had been admitted to Breach Candy Hospital around a month ago for severe kidney ailment. He had renal failure a year-and-a-half ago.

Antulay had been a heart patient for years. He underwent a bypass surgery in 1985 and a pacemaker was fitted in 1993.

Mr. Antulay was the first and only Muslim Chief Minister of Maharashtra during the years 1980 to 1982. However he had to resign from his post following allegation of corruption. He was convicted in an extrotion case by the Bombay High Court.

Later, he worked as party MLA and MP, representing the Congress in Raigad district. He fought his last election in 2009, which he lost to the Shiv Sena, after which he was out of the active politics.

He was minister in the Congress-led UPA 1 government but was sidelined soon after his controversial comment on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008.

Mr. Antulay had questioned the circumstances of Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief, Hemant Karkare’s death in the Mumbai terror attack on 26 Nov 2008. The party had distanced itself from his comment and soon he was removed from the union cabinet. He had suggested that there should be a probe into the circumstances of Karkare’s killing.

Abuse, insult of Backward Castes may soon attract penal action

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Karnataka Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya

Karnataka Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya

Bengaluru: The State Government is considering a proposal to enact legislation aimed at preventing abuse of the backward classes on the basis of their caste, according to Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya.

A proposal to this effect has been made to the Law Department. “We are keen on it and we will take a call based on the department’s opinion,” the minister said on Monday.

A meeting of leaders from backward communities, intellectuals and writers, chaired by Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya, resounded with vehement demands for a law to end abuse and insult of people belonging to the backward castes.

The meeting, on Monday, was held ahead of the launch of a caste-based census covering all of Karnataka. “Even today, seeing people of certain communities when setting out for important work is considered a bad omen. People engaged in some traditional vocations are insulted and abused by their caste names,” Anjaneya said, explaining the need for a new law.

“We are also considering banning the use of words that insult people belonging to certain castes. This is affirmative action to prevent caste discrimination,” the Social Welfare Minister added.

ISIS our biggest challenge: Rajnath Singh

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Rajnath Singh

by Manoj Anand, Asian Age

Union home minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday that the growing threat of Islamic State (ISIS) in the Indian subcontinent was the biggest challenge, especially in the wake of some youth being lured by them.

Referring to the attack in Arnia sector, Mr Singh said that Pakistan claims “non-state” actors are behind such incidents, which is not true.

“I want to ask Pakistan if its intelligence agency the Inter-Services Intelligence, is also a ‘non-state actor’,” Mr Singh said, reiterating that Pakistan was engaged in destabilising India.

The Union home minister also pointed out, “Though ISIS was born in Syria and Iraq, it is a fact that the Indian subcontinent is not outside its radar, especially as some Indian youth are also getting attracted to it.”

He said, “Moreover, the Al Qaeda had recently announced the formation of a new outfit, Qaeda-ul-Jihadi, with the intention of specifically targeting Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir and Bangladesh.”

He said, “India cannot remain unaffected by international terrorism, (and the) activities of the Islamic State. We can’t take Al Qaeda’s threat of turning India into an Islamic country lightly, we should consider it a challenge.”

Asserting that India was capable of handling these threats, Mr Singh, in his inaugural address at the 49th police conference, however, asserted, “There might be many terrorist organisations in the world, but we will not allow them to get a foothold in our country.”

Mr Singh also expressed confidence that these Islamic terror groups will never be able to succeed in India and said that the majority of Indian Muslims will not side with them. “I am sure these terror groups will never succeed in India. They may try to convert India into an Islamic country on the assumption that a large number of Muslims will support them. But the fact remains that Indian Muslims had fought and sacrificed equally with others for India’s independence,” Mr Singh said.

The home minister, at the meeting attended by police chiefs from across the country as well as senior officials from intelligence agencies, also urged states to fill up vacancies in police forces and assured them of all possible help.

Speaking about modernising police forces, Mr Singh stressed the need to make the police people-friendly.

“Our coastal security network is inadequate and it should be strengthened,” he said while expressing his concern on the growing use of cyberspace by anti-national and anti-social forces. He asked the police chiefs to deliberate on strategies and steps to monitor cyberspace. He admitted that the biggest stumbling block in this direction was that the majority of servers are outside India. “We should work out a strategy on how to handle it,” he said.

Petrol price cut by 91 paise/litre, diesel by 84 paise

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petrol-price-oil

New Delhi: Petrol price is cut by 91 paise a litre, the seventh reduction since August, and diesel by 84 paise per litre, the third straight cut, as international oil rates continued to slump, on Sunday.

Petrol and diesel price reduction will be effective from midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced.

In Delhi, petrol price will cost Rs 63.33 a litre as compared to Rs 64.24 per litre previously while in Mumbai the reduction will be 96 paise to Rs 70.95 per litre.

Diesel will cost Rs 52.51 a litre in Delhi from tomorrow as against Rs 53.35 currently while in Mumbai the price will be cut by 93 paise to Rs 60.11 per litre.

Rates differ from state to state due to differential local sales tax or VAT rates.

The prices of petrol and diesel were last revised downwards on November 1 by Rs 2.41 a litre and Rs 2.25 per litre respectively (including state levies at Delhi) on the back of declining international oil prices.

“Since the last price changes, the international prices of both petrol and diesel have continued to be on a downtrend.

The Rupee-USD exchange rate has however appreciated since the last price change. The combined impact of both these factors warrant a decrease in retail selling prices of both petrol and diesel,” IOC said in the statement.

This is the seventh consecutive reduction in petrol prices since August and third in diesel in rates since October.

Prior to today’s reduction, petrol price has been cumulatively cut by Rs 9.36 per litre since August.

Diesel price was cut for the first time in more than five years on October 19 by Rs 3.37 a litre when the government decided to deregulate the fuel. This was followed by another reduction on November 1.

“The movement of prices in international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be closely monitored and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes,” the statement said.

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