Bihar: Mulayam offers to revise pullout decision
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav offered to revise his decision to pull out from the Janata Parivar’s 'Mahagathbandhan' on Friday. His only condition was that his party should get 10 more seats in the upcoming Bihar elections. "Mulayam’s stance is not so much about seats as it is about political symbolism," political observers said. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav met Mulayam Singh on Friday to sort out differences in the alliance. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the issue would be resolved. “We are trying to figure out what led Samajwadi Party to take the decision to quit the grand secular alliance,” he said.
Rajasthan: Three get 20 years in prison for raping Japanese tourist
A local court sentenced three men to 20 years in jail on Friday for raping a Japanese woman near Jaipur city in February. The main accused Ajit Singh Chaudhary and his two friends were sentenced to 20 years in prison after the court found them guilty under Section 376 D of the Indian Penal Code. Three others including Ramvir, Shivraj and Ramraj were found guilty under Section 212 of the IPC and sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of Rs 2,000 each.
Jammu and Kashmir: Mufti government spying on me, says Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday accused the People's Democratic Party government of spying on him. “Mufti Govt brazenly spying on me. A journalist interviewing me for a national daily just got stopped right outside my gate by CID person. She was asked who she was & what the purpose of her visit was! Seriously guys if you want to know just ask me, I couldn’t care less if U do,” Abdullah tweeted. “No agency is spying on him. There is no need to,” government spokesperson and State Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar said. “Perhaps, he has mistaken the Special Security Group personnel, meant to protect him, as spies,”Akhtar added.
Maharashtra: 'Digital test on skull shows remains to be of Sheena Bora
The body exhumed in Maharashtra’s Raigad district may belong to Sheena Bora but forensic experts are awaiting DNA test results to verify the details. On Friday, they used the digital facial superimposition test in which photographs of missing persons are compared with skulls of recovered bodies to come to a conclusion. Senior sources in the police confirmed that the results of the tests carried out in the BMC-run BYL Nair Hospital were positive and forensic analysis of the rest of the skeletal remains has yielded crucial anatomical information about the body. “We compared the dental structure and the cheek bones by superimposing the pictures of Sheena available with us on the skull. The patterns were found to be matching by the experts during the tests,” said a source.
Delhi: Supreme Court judge recuses from hearing Malegaon case
Justice UU Lalit of the Supreme Court on Friday recused himself from hearing a petition seeking a fair trial into 2008 Malegaon blasts involving right-wing Hindu extremist groups. Lalit said in open court that he could not be part of the bench hearing the petition filed by social activist Harsh Mander as he had earlier defended some accused in the blast. Mander in his public interest litigation referred to statement of Rohini Salian, the former Special Public Prosecutor in the case, that she was under pressure from the National Investigation Agency to go soft in the case. "If there is credible reason to fear that public prosecutors are made to succumb to the wishes of their political masters, it is submitted that public faith in the entire edifice on which the free, fair and transparent trial is based would crumble," stated the petition.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav offered to revise his decision to pull out from the Janata Parivar’s 'Mahagathbandhan' on Friday. His only condition was that his party should get 10 more seats in the upcoming Bihar elections. "Mulayam’s stance is not so much about seats as it is about political symbolism," political observers said. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav met Mulayam Singh on Friday to sort out differences in the alliance. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the issue would be resolved. “We are trying to figure out what led Samajwadi Party to take the decision to quit the grand secular alliance,” he said.
Rajasthan: Three get 20 years in prison for raping Japanese tourist
A local court sentenced three men to 20 years in jail on Friday for raping a Japanese woman near Jaipur city in February. The main accused Ajit Singh Chaudhary and his two friends were sentenced to 20 years in prison after the court found them guilty under Section 376 D of the Indian Penal Code. Three others including Ramvir, Shivraj and Ramraj were found guilty under Section 212 of the IPC and sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of Rs 2,000 each.
Jammu and Kashmir: Mufti government spying on me, says Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday accused the People's Democratic Party government of spying on him. “Mufti Govt brazenly spying on me. A journalist interviewing me for a national daily just got stopped right outside my gate by CID person. She was asked who she was & what the purpose of her visit was! Seriously guys if you want to know just ask me, I couldn’t care less if U do,” Abdullah tweeted. “No agency is spying on him. There is no need to,” government spokesperson and State Education Minister Nayeem Akhtar said. “Perhaps, he has mistaken the Special Security Group personnel, meant to protect him, as spies,”Akhtar added.
Maharashtra: 'Digital test on skull shows remains to be of Sheena Bora
The body exhumed in Maharashtra’s Raigad district may belong to Sheena Bora but forensic experts are awaiting DNA test results to verify the details. On Friday, they used the digital facial superimposition test in which photographs of missing persons are compared with skulls of recovered bodies to come to a conclusion. Senior sources in the police confirmed that the results of the tests carried out in the BMC-run BYL Nair Hospital were positive and forensic analysis of the rest of the skeletal remains has yielded crucial anatomical information about the body. “We compared the dental structure and the cheek bones by superimposing the pictures of Sheena available with us on the skull. The patterns were found to be matching by the experts during the tests,” said a source.
Delhi: Supreme Court judge recuses from hearing Malegaon case
Justice UU Lalit of the Supreme Court on Friday recused himself from hearing a petition seeking a fair trial into 2008 Malegaon blasts involving right-wing Hindu extremist groups. Lalit said in open court that he could not be part of the bench hearing the petition filed by social activist Harsh Mander as he had earlier defended some accused in the blast. Mander in his public interest litigation referred to statement of Rohini Salian, the former Special Public Prosecutor in the case, that she was under pressure from the National Investigation Agency to go soft in the case. "If there is credible reason to fear that public prosecutors are made to succumb to the wishes of their political masters, it is submitted that public faith in the entire edifice on which the free, fair and transparent trial is based would crumble," stated the petition.
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