Rajiv assasination case

SC dismisses petitions seeking review of earlier judgements NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (UNI) The Supreme Court today dismissed petitions by the four condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking review of the court’s earlier judgements confirming the death sentence awarded to them by a Chennai special court.

The three-judge bench passed the order by a majority of 2 to 1.

While the majority judgements were delivered by Mr Justice D P Wadhwa and Mr Justice S S M Qadri, the presiding judge Mr K P Thomas dissented with them, observing that Nalini, being the lone female convict having a baby, should be awarded life imprisonment.

The court by a unanimous verdict also dismissed a petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), seeking review of that portion of the judgements by which all the 26 accused in the case were acquitted of the charges under the TADA against them.

The court with the same majority had on May 11 this year confirmed the death sentence of four of the accused— Santhan, Nalini, her husband Murugan and Perarivalan alias Arivu and awarded life imprisonment to three others and acquitted the remaining 19 of the murder charge.

The three accused who were given life imprisonment were Robert, Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

The former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a human bomb blast on May 21, 1991 at Sriperambedur near Chennai, where he had gone to address an election rally.

Bihar PCC chief’s resignation demanded PATNA, Oct 08 (UNI) Senior Congress leaders in Bihar today demanded resignation of Bihar Pradesh Congress committee president Sadanand Singh following party’s debacle in the current Lok Sabha elections.

Former PCC president Sarfraz Ahmed,MLC,and former Deputy leader in the state legislative council Vijay Shanker Mishra in a joint statement here said that the PCC chief should step down immediately owning moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the state.They said Mr Singh should step down to allow AICC president Sonia Gandhi for revamping the organisation.

The party has won three seats out of the 16 constituencies it had contested.

It however contested two seats more than 14 seats which had been allotted to the party in an alliance with the state’s ruling party Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Cong Committee asks AGP to seek fresh mandate GUWAHATI, Oct 8 (UNI): The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee(APCC) today demanded that Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta led AGP government should seek fresh mandate as they drew blank in the two successive Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to newsmen at the party headquarters here, APCC President Tarun Gogoi stated that the AGP had no moral right to continue in power and should seek fresh mandate.

The people of the state had reposed their full confidence in the Congress in the two Lok Sabha elections.Maturity, political concensus and popular mode of the people was reflected in selection of the candidates,he added.

On the other hand people through their verdict had totally rejected the incompetant, corrupt and insensitive AGP government,Mr Gogoi said.

The election has exposed their(AGP) false, motivated and baseless allegations about the nexus between the Congress and ULFA he said.

The AGP to cover up their failure and poor performance has invented a new theory saying that they had lost the elections due to the communal polarisation of votes.

The Chief Minister’s comment was an insult to the secular people of Assam.

He had also insulted the greater Asamese society built up by great Vaishnava saint Shankardeva and Ajan Fakir, Mr Gogoi alleged.

Mr Gogoi termed the BJP’s gain in the state at the landslide erosion of AGP’s support base.

Out of the 13 of the 14 parliamentary seats, the Congress has retained eight and wrested one from the BJP while they had lost two seats to BJP.

The ruling AGP and its alliance partner—CPI(M), CPI and United Peoples Party of Assam(UPPA) drew blank.

2 former CMs taste defeat in Bihar PATNA, Oct 8(UNI): Two former Chief Ministers,including high profile Laloo Prasad Yadav, tasted defeat in the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar this year.

While Mr Yadav lost in the prestigious Madhepura constituency, another former Chief Minister Ram Sunder das remained out of bound from Hajipur.

Both Mr Yadav and Mr Das faced electoral defeat from the Janata Dal(United) leaders Sharad Yadav and Mr Ramvilas Paswan respectively.

Noted cricketer Kirti Azad, the son of another former Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, has managed to win from Darbhanga constituency in his maiden attempt to enter the Lok Sabha from the state.

Mrs Shyama Singh, the daughter in law of another former Chief Minister Satyendra Narayan Singh, will also enter the lower house of parliament for the first time following her election from Aurangabad constituency.

CPI (M) emerges biggest beneficiary in Kerala THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct 8 (UNI): Though the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Marxist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala have maintained status quo in the number of seats as compared to the 1998 elections, securing eleven and nine seats respectively, the CPI(M) has emeged this time as the single largest beneficiary and the CPI the biggest loser.

Despite the anti-incumbency factor and the consolidation of the minority vote bank in favour of the UDF, the CPI(M) has reasons to be happy over its show in the election, mainly in the context of its success in Kannur and Kollam seats, which during the seat sharing talks were taken away from Congress (S) and the RSP respectively, generating uneasiness within the front .

Undoubtedly, Kannur and Kollam were so dear to the hearts of the CPI(M) bosses as they had "seized’’ both the seats on the ground that the LDF would lose them if the Congress (S), which merged in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the RSP were allowed to field their candidates.

While the RSP was denied the Kollam seat citing a split in that party, the rejection of the NCP demand for the Kannur seat was borne out of the perception that the NCP was soft towards the BJP.

The victory in these two constituencies has enabled the CPI(M) to hold its head high.

Though the LDF could not improve on its 1998 tally of nine, the CPI(M) individually could increase its share from six to eight.

The poll verdict has come as a surprise to many as the exit polls had invariably predicted a maximum of six seats only for the LDF.

The CPI(M) had contested three seats more than the previous elections as part of its decision at the national level to contest and win more seats to be a decisive force after the elections in the context of the move to float a third front of left and secular parties.

The results clearly indicated that the Congress could not take advantage of a multitude of favourable factors such as law and order problem in Kannur, the governmental lapses in the state and at the centre and the unusual unity among the leaders in the party in the state.

Perhaps it could not also cash in on the sentiments of the minorities properly.

A significant feature of the outcome was that the rival coalitions could maintain stauts quo not by retaining all of their seats by exchanging two seats each.

While the UDF captured Thrissur and Adoor (SC), the LDF avenged it by capturing Kannur and Idukki.

For the first time, the Kerala contingent of 20 MPs would include the largest number of eight Marxists.

This is two more than their tally (from the state) in the dissolved house.

But the CPI, which had two members in the dissolved house, drew a blank, much to the embarrassment of the LDF at a time when efforts were on to forge a third front of secular, left and democratic parties.

The CPI had fielded four candidates, but all of them including two sitting members V V Raghavan (Thrissur) and Chengara Surendran (Adoor-SC) were defeated.

Lady luck denies to smile on some women candidates in Bihar PATNA,Oct 08 (UNI) : Lady luck denied to smile upon some of the women ministers and legislators in Bihar who tried to make their entry in parliament this time .

While none of the seven ministers of the Rabri Devi cabinet won the elections, four women, one Rajya Sabha member,three members of the state assembly and one member of the legislative council could manage to go to the Lok Sabha.

Out of the ten women candidates in the fray for the 50 seats for which elections were held, two BJP sitting members—Mrs Rita Verma from Dhanbad and Mrs Abha Mahato from Jamshedpur— retained their seats while former union minister and RJD candidate Ms Kanti Singh annexed her lost seat from Bikramganj and Mrs Shyama Sinha, a close relative of former chief minister Satyendra Narayan Singh was elected from Aurangabad seat.

Mrs Sinha is the only woman member from the state who would enter the Lok Sabha for the first time .

Among the prominent women who lost in the election included Bihar peoples party’s Lovely Anand, Mrs Sushila Karketta of the Congress and Mrs Rama Devi of te RJD.

Four women members had been elected in the last Lok Sabha election from the state.

Of the 19 legislators in the fray, only three could manage to win— two belonged to the Janata Dal(United) and another to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

JD(U) state president Ramjivan Singh was elected from Balia and his party colleague Nawal Kisore Rai won the Sitamarhi seat.

BJP MLA Laxman Gilua also won from the Singhbhum(ST) seat.

Lone member of the state legislative council Arun Kumar of the JD(U) got elected from the extremist dominated Jehanabad constituency even as three MLC’s were in the fray.

Of the three Rajya Sabha members who contested the Lok Sabha poll, only Mr Nagmani of the RJD was elected from Chatra constituency.

The cabinet colleagues of chief minister Rabri Devi, who were in the fray but failed to make it included revenue and land reforms minister Ramai Ram(Hajipur), insitutional finance minister Aklu Ram Mahato (Hazaribagh), minor irrigation minister Vijay Krishna( Barh), higher education minister Ashok Singh( Samastipur),food and civil supplies minister Purnamasi Ram( Bagha)and state minister for cooperative Surya Deo Rai(Sitamarhi).

Race to form the next govt in M’rashtra begins MUMBAI, Oct 8 (UNI) : Hectic politicking and paralays commenced in Maharashtra after the final results to the 13th Lok Sabha and 10th state assembly elections were declared with all the major political groups and independents holding closed-door meetings to discuss strategies to form the next government in this western state.

However, the results have been such that no single political party is in a position to form the next government on its own.

The frontrunners are the Shiv Sena-BJP ruling saffron alliance which unitedly got 125 seats (20 short of working majority), while there has also been talks about the Congress led by Ms Sonia Gandhi and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coming together to keep them (SS-BJP) out of power, whom they describe as fundamentalist forces.

In the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, Congress has energed as the single largest bagging 75 seats.

The party is followed by Sena (69), NCP (58), BJP (58), Independents (12), peasents and workers party (five), Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh BBM (three), CPI-M (two), Janata Dal-Secular (two), Samajwadi Party (two), and the Gondwana Ganantra Party, Native Peoples’ Party, Samajwadi Janata Party (Maharashtra) and the Republican Party of India could manage only one seat each.

In the Lok Sabha elections to 48 seats, the Sena surprised all by securing 15 seats and was followed by its ruling ally in state and the centre, BJP, which got 13 seats.

The Congress, which had last time got 33 seats, finished a poor third by getting ten seats and the newly-formed NCP could manage only six seats.

The BBM, JD(S) and PWP got only one seat, while another was won by an Independent.

With this kind of configuration, no political party is in a position to form a government.

While the Sena and BJP is falling short of 20 seats, it claim that the alliance will be able to form the next government and easily sail through the political scene, as it is receiving feelers from independents and splinter groups who could join them.

Out of the 12 independents who had won the elections, six were backed by the saffron alliance.

Yesterday, as soon as Maharashtra headed for a hung assembly, a high-level meeting of the alliance was convened at Matoshree, the residence of the Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Among those who attended the meeting included chief minister Narayan Rane, former chief minister Manohar Joshi, state BJP president Suryabhan Wahadane-Patil, deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde, Sena chief’s son Uddhav and his nephew, Raj.

Emerging after the parleys, the chief minister said the Sena-BJP alliance would stake its claim to form the next government.

However, the alliance partners is yet to specify the exact date when they would be staking the claim.

‘’Even if we could not get the desired result, several independents as well as some newly-elected MLAs have pledged support to the alliance,’’ he said.

Though it may be falling short of majority, the saffron alliance, which has ruled the state for the last four-and-a-half-years, is in an upbeat mood.

Mr Thackeray, while talking to mediapersons, exuded confidence that the alliance would be able to form the next government.

He said that the ‘Shivshahi’ rule in the state would continue.

Even as senior BJP leader and information and broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan, who is considered as one of the architects of the alliance, met party leaders in the state capital, the NCP chief and former defence minister Sharad Pawar, who has created a dent in the Congress stronghold of Maharashtra, has air-dashed to Mumbai to hold talks with party MPs, MLAs and MLCs.

Meanwhile, NCP state unit president and leader of opposition in state legislative council Chhagan Bhujbal said that his party is not averse to the idea of joining hands with the Congress to form the government in maharashtra and throw the alliance out of power.

Senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde, however, felt that any such decision will be taken at the national level.

A group of Congress leaders said they (Mr Pawar and his party) would have to repent for what they did (raising the issue of foreign origin of Ms Gandhi) and the only the Congress would be able to take any decision.

Guide to India’s best residential schools published in Doon DEHRA DUN, Oct 8 (UNI) A detailed and comprehensive description of nearly a hundred residential schools in the country makes "good schools of India" a book which can greatly assist parents to make a judicious choice of an institution for their children.

The best residential schools for only girls and boys feature in the book alongwith co-educational institutions brought out recently here by the English book depot, the book is authored by Mr Sandeep Dutt, an ex-student of the Doon school and a resident of the Doon valley for the past three decades.

Mr Dutt earlier co-authored "Good schools of Doon." The schools talked about in the book include all the most famous and academically successful as well as some ‘’speciality institutions’’ like Sainik Schools, military schools, sports schools and schools promoted by the Corporate sector.

Most of the information used in the guide was provided by the schools.

A few of them were visited by a team of experts and the description given in the books captures the essence of the atmosphere of each institution.

The Doon school, Dehra Dun, Lawrence School, Sanawar, Scindia School, Fort, Gwalior, Welham boys school, Dehra Dun, the Assam valley school, Sonitpur, Bishop cotton school, Shimla and Mayo College, Ajmer, figure prominently in the book which also has contributions from renowned academicians of the country.

Background information, description of campus, atmosphere, philosophy of the institution, information about the head and staff of the schools, affiliations, sports, co-curricular activities, fee structure, admission procedure and management are the heads under which every school has been described in the guide.

Photographs and sketches of the campus and buildings of some of the schools have also been provided in the book besides a checklist of points to help parents arrive at the school of their choice.

Interesting historical details about the country’s oldest residential schools like Woodstock school, Mussoorie and the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, make the book worth reading even for the general reader.

The author is also head of the national training team of the international award for young people (formerly the Duke of Edinburgh’s award).

Wildlife Institute to hold annual research seminar DEHRA Dun, Oct 8 (UNI) Forest department officials, prominent wildlife scientists and conservationists from all over the country will participate in the 13th Annual Research Seminar (ARS) to be held here at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Members of the various committees of the WII, including the Training Research and Academic Council (TRAC) will also attend the seminar alongwith all Principal Conservators of Forests (PCCFS) on October 26 and 27 next at the ‘Chandrabani’ campus of the institute in the valley.

The ARS has been an annual feature of the WII since 1987 and gives an opportunity to WII’s researchers to make presentations based on their field work.

The ARS has also proved, over the years, an effective means of apprising all participants of the ongoing research projects at the WII.

WII Director S K Mukherjee said here that the institute was currently working on different studies in a number of states covering different biogeographic zones and addressing endangered species and their problems including human aspects.

The ARS would include presentations based on ongoing studies highlighting significant findings and their management implications, he said.

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