Delhi Police accuses AAP workers of indulging in riotous acts

NEW DELHI: Delhi police has accused the Aam Aadmi Party protestors of indulging in "riotous acts and using criminal force" to prevent the police from discharging their duty over Wednesday's protest which turned violent outside BJP headquarters here. According to the report submitted by the police, sub inspector Sunil Kumar along with force from Parliament street police station reached BJP headquarters and found that around 50 AAP activists had assembled.

He tried to persuade and pacify the protestors to go back but the crowd continued shouting slogans and in a short duration, the number AAP protestors swelled to 150-200, said the report.

Following this, assistant commissioner of Police, Parliament street Anyesh Roy reached the spot with extra force during which the protestors had started climbing the wall and the main gate and tore off the hoardings outside.

"The assembly was declared unlawful on the PA system and they were asked to disperse but the crowd continued to indulge in riotous acts and stone pelting," the report stated.

With no alternative left, police had to resort to use of water cannons to disperse the crowd.

"The crowd further got aggressive and broke the glass panes of the vehicles, tore off the seats, broke the nozzle of the water cannon after mounting over it. Further the unruly mob regrouped and moved towards the main gate of the BJP headquaters and started throwing sticks, stones upon a few BJP workers assembled inside," the report said.

In the melee, the cars parked outside also got damaged.

With reinforcement, including senior officers of New Delhi Distrist, the crowd was controlled.

According to the report, 4 policemen, 16 AAP workers and 9 BJP workers and 1 media person suffered injuries during the scuffle and were taken to RML hospital.

In connection with this incident, 14 protestors were arrested and FIR registered on charges of rioting, assaulting or obstructing public servant from discharing his duty and on charges of causing damage to property.

On Thursday, Delhi's chief electoral officer served a notice to AAP for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) over the violent protest outside BJP headquarters.

New Delhi's deputy commissioner and district election officer, Ameya Abhyankar, had asked AAP to explain why action should not be initiated against it for holding a protest without permission from poll officials and in violation of the MCC, which came to force after the poll dates were announced.

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Oscar Pistorius told guard ‘everything is fine’ after shots heard

PRETORIA: Oscar Pistorius told security at his estate that "everything is fine" shortly after shots were reported from his home on the night his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was killed.

"Mr Pistorius said to me 'security, everything is fine'," security guard Pieter Baba testified about what the athlete told him on the phone.

"That's when I realized that Mr Pistorius was crying," he added. Pistorius called Baba back. "He just started crying over the phone. That's when the line went off again."

The guard, who spoke to Pistorius by cellphone after driving to his house, then described seeing the athlete coming down the stairs with Steenkamp in his arms.

"I saw Mr Pistorius coming down with Reeva. My lady I was so shocked that I couldn't even think for a few moments," he said.

"I got such a fright seeing Oscar carrying Reeva down, after he had told me everything was fine."

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Court summons to Manish Tewari over Gadkari's defamation case

MUMBAI: A local court on Friday took cognizance of a defamation complaint filed by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari against the Union minister Manish Tewari, and issued process against the Congress leader.

"The court has taken the cognisance of the defamation case and issued process against Tewari. The court has also issued summons to Tewari," said Gadkari's lawyer, advocate Rameshwar Gite.

Gadkari dragged Tewari to the court in December 2010, when the latter, as Congress spokesperson, allegedly accused the former BJP chief of holding 'a benami' flat in the scam-tainted Adarsh Society.

As per Gadkari's complaint, Tewari told reporters that Ajay Sancheti, a close associate of Gadkari, had a benami flat in Adarsh Society in the name of his driver.

Gadkari says in the complaint that this was false and defamatory, and Tewari should be tried for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code.

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Women’s day: Jet, GoAir offer discount, Air India all-women crew flight

MUMBAI: Domestic airlines are wooing women travellers with discounts and an-all-women crew flights to mark the International Women's Day which falls tomorrow.

While private carrier Jet Airways has announced discounted tickets with a two months booking window and 11 months validity, budget carrier Goair has offered upgrade to business class at low prices.

The national carrier Air India is mulling an all-women crew flight.

Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways has offered discounted fares to women travellers with a two-month booking period, starting from tomorrow.

Under the offer, women travellers will get a special 10% discount on base fares for international journey and a similar discount on base fare and fuel surcharge for domestic travel, it said.

All tickets, for both domestic and international travel, must be booked online between March 8, 2014 and May 8, 2014, with travel validity of 11 months, Jet Airways said adding the offer is applicable for both Jet Airways and Jet Konnect.

Air India, which has been operating an all-women crew flight to mark the International Women's Day for last few years now, plans a similar flight this year too.

"We have been operating such flights for the last several years. And this year also, we will be operating flights with all-women crew on both international and domestic sectors," an Air India official said.

Such move sends out a strong message that women are no different from the men when it comes to the tough job of flying, the official said.

Nusli Wadia promoted GoAir had yesterday announced a special scheme for women travellers, offering upgrade to business class for Rs 999.

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Iran says nuclear talks with powers ‘substantive and useful’

VIENNA/ANKARA: A senior Iranian official said on Friday that expert-level talks between Iran and six world powers on Tehran's nuclear programme had been "substantive and useful."

Seeking to build on an interim agreement reached late last year in Geneva, Iran and the major powers aim to hammer out a final settlement of the decade-old dispute over Tehran's atomic activities by late July.

The March 5-7 meeting at the United Nations complex in Vienna, which ended around mid-day on Friday, was to prepare for the next round of political negotiations on the issue later this month, also in the Austrian capital.

Both sides have made clear their political will to reach a long-term accord and have scheduled a series of meetings in the coming months. But they also acknowledge that there are still big differences over the future scope of Iran's nuclear programme and that success is far from guaranteed.

"The talks are very serious and substantive and useful," the head of the Iranian delegation at the expert-level talks, senior foreign ministry official Hamid Baidinejad, told Iran's Fars news agency ahead of Friday's session.

There was no immediate comment from either side after the meeting ended.

Officials said experts from Russia were taking part in this week's meeting in Vienna, suggesting there was no immediate impact on the nuclear negotiations from the crisis in Ukraine.

A senior diplomat from one of the big powers said this week there had been "no suggestion by anyone" that the crisis would impede discussions on Iran or other issues such as Syria where the United States and Europe are trying to cooperate with Russia.

TIME-CONSUMING

Western officials want Iran to significantly scale back its uranium enrichment activities to ensure that it would be unable to build an atomic bomb quickly if it ever decided to do so.

Iran denies allegations that it is seeking the technical know-how and means to assemble nuclear weapons and says it will not shut any of its nuclear sites, which include the uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow and a planned heavy water reactor at Arak.

An official of Iran's atomic energy organisation earlier this week said the negotiations would be "time consuming."

"We want to continue our activities. Some on the other side have imaginary concerns about us veering from non-peaceful use (of nuclear energy). We are studying ways to remove that," Behrooz Kamalvandi told Iran's IRNA news agency on Wednesday.

Iran wants Western and UN sanctions that are severely hurting its oil-dependent economy lifted, having won limited relief in exchange for curbing its most sensitive nuclear work under the six-month Geneva deal, which took effect on Jan. 20.

Uranium can be used to fuel a planned network of nuclear power plants, which is Iran's stated goal, but also provide fuel for bombs if processed to a high fissile concentration, which the West fears may be Iran's ultimate aim.

Chief negotiators from Iran and the powers — the United States, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and China — are to begin their next round of negotiations on March 18 in Vienna. The meeting is expected to last two to three days.

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Pakistan court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against former President Pervez Musharraf to secure his presence in the hearing in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

The court in Rawalpindi issued the warrant after hearing the arguments of prosecution lawyers.

The Federal Investigation Agency also submitted a detailed charge-sheet that named Musharraf as an accused in the case related to the murder of Bhutto.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case till February 19.

The FIA had earlier this week named Musharraf as an "absconder" for failing to cooperate in the probe into the assassination.

Musharraf, currently living in self-exile in Britain, had refused to cooperate with investigators and answer their questions, prosecutors said.

The detailed charge-sheet said that there was a conspiracy behind Bhutto''s assassination, and that Musharraf allegedly provided slain Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud with the opportunity to carry out a suicide attack on Bhutto by failing to provide her adequate security.

A report compiled by the FIA''s investigation team said: "Musharraf was equally responsible for facilitation and abetment of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto through his government and justified failure in providing her the requisite security protection that her status demanded twice.
There was a security lapse."
The FIA has also alleged that two top former police officials, who were recently arrested for alleged negligence in providing security to Bhutto, were acting on the orders of Musharraf.

Musharraf''s spokesman and legal aides have dismissed the charges levelled against him, saying the Pakistan People''s Party-led government was trying to deflect attention from charges of inefficiency and corruption levelled against it.

Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after she addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.

The former military ruler has been living out Pakistan since April 2009. Former Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in 2009.

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Rajnath parries questions on Modi's Lok Sabha seat

RAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday parried a question on whether party's ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi would contest from Uttar Pradesh saying that it was for the central election committee to take a decision on it.

"BJP's central election committee will decide on it", he quipped while talking to reporters on his arrival here to attend a public meeting in Durg later this evening.

Asked whether the BJP would field all the 10 sitting BJP MPs from Chhattisgarh, the BJP president said "State election committee will meet soon to decide on the candidates.

Chief minister Raman Singh and other leaders will decide", he added.

In the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won 10 out of 11 Lok Sabha seats from Chhattisgarh.

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UP doctors' strike: HC orders judicial probe, transfer of cops

LUCKNOW: Stepping in to end the deadlock over doctors' strike against attack on their colleagues, Allahabad high court on Wednesday ordered a judicial probe and directed the UP government to transfer SSP Kanpur, Yashaswi Yadav, and other officials involved in the February 28 incident.

Taking suo motu cognisance, the Lucknow bench comprising justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Devendra Kumar Upadhaya clarified that the order of transfer is only to resolve the situation and should not be taken as a "stigma" on the officials, while requesting the doctors to resume their duties immediately.

As the court assembled this morning, it directed that the matter be registered as a PIL and sought replies from principal secretary medical/health, SGPGI administrator and others by March 10, the next date of hearing.

It also permitted the striking doctors to intervene in the matter and appointed senior advocate Jaideep Narain Mathur as amicus curiae.

During the first half of the hearing, the court directed a probe by retired Justice V K Mathur into the matter. However as the court resumed the hearing in the second half, the state government informed it that a one man judicial commission of retired justice RMS Chauhan has already been set up.

Following the submission, the court kept its order in abeyance and directed the state government to file Justice Chauhan Commission's report in three weeks.

Also, the state government informed the court that with the model code of conduct coming into effect from today, police officials cannot be transferred but the court refused to consider it.

The six-day-old strike has adversely hit medical services in several parts of the state. The medicos are protesting after their colleagues at GSVC medical college were allegedly beaten up by Kanpur Police and supporters of SP MLA Irfan Solanki on February 28 following an altercation with him.

The doctors have been demanding arrest of Solanki, action against SSP Yashasvi Yadav and withdrawal of charges against 24 junior doctors.

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Lok Saba polls: Bhaichung Bhutia, Moon Moon Sen to contest on Trinamool ticket

KOLKATA: Film personalities Moon Moon Sen Deb, Shatabdi Roy, and former Indian soccer skipper Bhaichung Bhutia figure in the list of candidates of the Trinamool Congress for the coming Lok Saba polls, party chief Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

Bhutia will contest the election from Darjeeling, and Deb from Ghatal in West Midnapore district.

Sen, daughter of legendary Bengali heroine Suchitra Sen and herself a film actress, will be in the fray from Bankura.

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BJP to get majority on its own, BJP chief Rajnath Singh says

RAIPUR: BJP president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said his party would cross the simple majority figure of 272 seats on its own in the Lok Sabha polls.

"The kind of massive support the Bharatiya Janata Party is getting from the masses across the country, I am sure the party will touch the 272-seat mark on its own," Rajnath Singh told media at Raipur airport in Chhattisgarh before leaving for Maoist-hit Kanker to address a meeting of party workers.

Welcoming the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission, the BJP chief said he was hopeful of free and fair polls.

He said the BJP would win all 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh which goes to polls in three phases - April 10, 17 and 24.

In the 2009 polls, the BJP had won 10 seats and the Congress was victorious in just one seat, Korba.

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RSS apex body, affiliated organizations to meet in Bangalore from March 7

BANGALORE: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's highest policy making body, Akhil Bharateeya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), is holding its annual three-day meeting here from March 7, when it would review its activities and discuss important national issues.

RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji would chair the meeting, in which representatives elected from different Shakhas all over the country, state-level office-bearers and national functionaries of Sangh affiliated organizations would take part.

Prominent leaders from BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, ABVP, Bharateeya Kisan Sangh, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Bharateeya Mazdoor Sangh would attend the meeting, besides those from Rashtra Sevika Samithi and Swadeshi Jagran Manch and other outfits, RSS said in a release.

Activities of all these organisations would be reviewed at the meeting, which would also see participation of more than 1,200 social workers from different walks of life from across the country, it said.

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Eight special trains to run between New Delhi and Shirdi

MUMBAI: Railways have decided to run 8 weekly AC superfast special trains between Sainagar Shirdi and New Delhi to clear the extra rush of passengers during Holi festival rush.

A CR spokesperson said, "Train No. 04011 weekly AC superfast special will leave Sainagar Shirdi at 10am on every Friday from March 7, 2014 to March 28, 2014 (4 trips) and arrive New Delhi at 8.15 am next day."

On its return trip Train No. 04012 weekly AC superfast special will leave New Delhi at 11.55 pm on every Wednesday from March 5, 2014 to March 26, 2014 (4 trips) and arrive Sainagar Shirdi at 23.15 hrs next day.

The train will have halts at Manmad, Bhusawal, Khandwa, Itarsi, Habibganj, Bhopal, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra Cantonment and Mathura Jn.

The train composition is One AC First class, 5 AC 2-tier, 7 AC 3-tier and 2 Generators cum Guard's Brake vans.

The spokesperson said, the bookings for 04011 will open from March 4, 2014.

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BJP demands court-monitored probe into Rolls Royce contract

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday demanded a court-monitored probe into alleged bribery in the purchase of Rolls-Royce aircraft engine and targeted the government once again on the issue of corruption in this context.

The party was not satisfied with the CBI probe ordered by the defence minister alleging the government is in the habit of hiding scams and indulging in cover-ups.

"The Congress regime always tried to hide the scam in the first place and deny the existence of the scam afterwards. It instituted investigation only when cornered by the circumstances.

"The investigation makes progress only if it is monitored by the courts, otherwise it becomes a cover-of operation. We demand a court-monitored probe into this," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.

He said it is intriguing that every major scam during UPA rule has been discovered outside India and it is only then that the government is forced to order a domestic investigation.

He said in this series, UK serious fraud office arrested arms dealer Sudhir Chaudhary and his son Bhanu and initiated investigations into the allegations of fraud in the defence deal, only after which UPA was forced to order a CBI probe.

"India does not want scams to come out. It wants to suppress them. Congress attitude towards corruption is to keep quiet and suppress the truth from coming out," he said, adding Congress-led UPA government was forced to institute a CBI inquiry as Indian Defence Procurement System does not allow middlemen or advisers/consultants.

Javadekar said that earlier the VVIP chopper scam also was pursued by the Italian authorities and they arrested two middlemen and when the Italian courts started hearing the case, it was revealed through documents that bribes were paid to officials and two politicians for whom abbreviations like "FAM" and "AP" were used.

He said it was only after allegations of Rs 200 crore kickbacks cropped up that the Indian government was forced to cancel the deal.

He also cited the examples of Tatra Truck scam and the Navy war room leak scams which were also exposed by external agencies.

Besides, he said, the Bofors scam came to light because of a radio station in Sweden blowing the lead.

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Withdraw security of 288 people with criminal antecedent, high court to UP government

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday directed the UP government to withdraw, within 10 days, security gunners provided to all the 288 persons with criminal antecedents. Next hearing is on April 7, 2014.

The order came on a public interest litigation filed by activist Nutan Thakur.

This list includes ex ministers like Ram Achal Rajbhar, Rakeshdhar Tripathi, Daddu Prasad, Nand Gopal Gupta, ex MPs like Harish Nagpal, DP Yadav, Pankaj Chaudhary and Begum Noor Bano and many ex MLAs and Samajwadi party office bearers.

The bench comprising justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said that after withdrawal of security cover, separate orders may be passed only for those persons who have actual threat of any nature.

In its 429 page counter affidavit filed by home secretary Kamal Saxena, other than this list of 288 persons with criminal antecedents, the state government also presented a list of 562 persons who have been given security despite having arms licence and a list of 127 persons provided security under the orders of various courts.

The court advised the state government to refrain from giving security to those who already have arms licence. The court also said that the government affidavit was not clear about the details of withdrawal of security provided without the requisite recommendation of the security committee and it directed the state government to present the clear position in this regard.

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Withdraw security of 288 persons with criminal antecedent, high court to UP government

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday directed the UP government to withdraw, within 10 days, security gunners provided to all the 288 persons with criminal antecedents. Next hearing is on April 7, 2014.

The order came on a public interest litigation filed by activist Nutan Thakur.

This list includes ex ministers like Ram Achal Rajbhar, Rakeshdhar Tripathi, Daddu Prasad, Nand Gopal Gupta, ex MPs like Harish Nagpal, DP Yadav, Pankaj Chaudhary and Begum Noor Bano and many ex MLAs and Samajwadi party office bearers.

The bench comprising justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said that after withdrawal of security cover, separate orders may be passed only for those persons who have actual threat of any nature.

In its 429 page counter affidavit filed by home secretary Kamal Saxena, other than this list of 288 persons with criminal antecedents, the state government also presented a list of 562 persons who have been given security despite having arms licence and a list of 127 persons provided security under the orders of various courts.

The court advised the state government to refrain from giving security to those who already have arms licence. The court also said that the government affidavit was not clear about the details of withdrawal of security provided without the requisite recommendation of the security committee and it directed the state government to present the clear position in this regard.

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Sarva khap mahapanchayat to be held on March 25

LUCKNOW: Representatives of various khap panchayats from four states on Saturday met at Muzaffarnagar's Phugana village to review the progress made so far vis-a-vis the talks, which are going on with the representatives of the Uttar Pradesh government. Apart from this, the khap representatives also decided to hold a 'Sarva Jaatiye, Sarva Khap' panchayat on March 25, which would eventually spell the khap's line of thought and action just before the 16th general elections.

Elaborating more about the meeting, Dharmendra Malik, a senior member of Ghatwala Khap, said, "The main agenda of the meeting was to mount pressure on the state government to withdraw false cases of rape lodged against innocent youngsters." he further stated that members of various Khaps are trying to work out a peaceful solution to the prevailing situation, since many of the youngsters residing in the villages have to appear in various competitive examinations.

"However, if this is construed as our weakness, then let me reiterate that we will not allow even a single innocent to be arrested," Malik said and added that the Khap members are ready for a do or die battle. "Our only request to the state government of Uttar Pradesh is to hand over the probe to an agency and ensure that it is done in an independent and fair manner. And, if the state government tries to falsely implicate us in various cases, then we would court mass arrests, and may resort to other violent means of protests," the senior member of Ghatwala Khap further added.

On whether the Khaps would be extending their support to a particular political party in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Malik was of the view that Khaps would back those political parties, who have helped them in the hour of crisis and stood by them through thick and thin.

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Muzaffarnagar riot cases has so far filed chargesheet against 248 persons in connection with the 48 different cases.

"As many as 248 persons have been chargesheeted so far in connection with the riots while 1195 persons have been found involved and their list has been sent to respective police stations for arresting them," Manoj Jha, additional SP (SIT) said, and added that 417 accused have been arrested in connection with different cases.

Six cases of gang rape were registered against 27 persons during riots in which 22 persons were found involved. While Vedpal was arrested, 21 others are absconding and attachment proceedings against them have been initiated by the court. More than 60 persons were killed and more than 40,000 displaced in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in September last year during the communal violence.

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Emirates flight makes emergency landing at Mumbai airport

MUMBAI: A Mumbai-bound Emirates flight from Dubai made an emergency landing in Mumbai airport following a suspected technical failure. The aircraft, flying in from Dubai, with 231 passengers on board, landed safely at 2.12pm, said an airport official.

The commander of flight EK 506 informed the air traffic controller about a suspected technical problem and opted for a full emergency landing. Fire tenders and ambulances were positioned as per Standard Operating Procedures. The aircraft landed safely and emergency was withdrawn at 2.20pm, said the official.

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France wants G8 summit preparations suspended over Ukraine

PARIS: France's foreign minister called on Sunday for preparations to be suspended for the upcoming G8 summit in Sochi over Russia's "military escalation" in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.

"France wants preparations for the Sochi G8 summit to be suspended," Laurent Fabius said, "until our Russian partners have returned to principles compatible with those of the G7 and G8."

"We condemn the Russian military escalation," he told French radio, after President Vladimir Putin obtained the green light from parliament to invade its neighbour Ukraine.

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Sushma relents, mining baron Janardhan Reddy aide Sriramulu will be back in BJP fold

BANGALORE: Decks have been cleared for BSR Congress chief B Sriramulu's re-entry to the BJP.

The party higher ups have given green signal for the state unit to admit Sriramulu and merge his BSR Congress with the BJP. The merger formalities is expected to be completed within a week. Like the merger of former CM BS Yeddyurappa's KJP, even BSR Congress merger would be a low key affair.

Some BJP leaders at the Centre, particularly opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, had opposed Sriramulu's entry. The allegations of illegal mining had made Sushma distance herself from the Bellary trio - G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhan Reddy and Sriramulu.

The arrest of Janardhan Reddy and his close associates Anand Singh, B Nagendra and TH Suresh Babu by the CBI on charges of illegal mining and export of ore from Belikere port further complicated the issue of re-entry. However, the state leaders have succeeded in convincing their central leaders about the need for having Sriramulu as he himself has no case against him.

The BJP sees advantage in Sriramulu's home coming as the party feels that he has influence in Bellary, Koppal, Raichur, Gadag and Chitradurga districts. In the event of merger, Sriramulu belonging to Naik community (Scheduled Tribe) would be asked to contest from Bellary Lok Sabha constituency replacing his sister J Shantha.

"I have received an invitation from the BJP to join the party. I will announce my decision after holding consultation with my supporters and constituency people," Sriramulu said on Sunday in Bellary.

However, this LS polls won't be easy for Sriramulu. He will be facing Congress candidate NY Hanumanthappa. When Reddy brothers were at the peak of their dominance in 2009, Hanumanthappa had lost to Shantha by a little more than 2,000 votes. With change in guard in the state, Sriramulu has to slog it out in the coming polls. K Shivanagouda Naik may be preferred from Raichur in place of sitting MP Sanna Fakirappa.

The BJP party state election management committee is meeting on Monday to finalize candidates for the remaining 4-5 constituencies. Of the 28 segments, the BJP has finalized candidates for more than 20 segments. BJP troubleshooter Arun Jaitley would be in city on March 5 to strategize for the polls.

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Hundreds detained in Russian anti-war rallies: Rights group

MOSCOW: Moscow police Sunday arrested hundreds protesting against military intervention in Ukraine, a rights group said, after President Vladimir Putin won approval from senators to send troops into the crisis-hit country.

Ovdinfo, a rights group that tracks arrests at demonstrations, said 352 were detained at two anti-war protests in central Moscow.

Police gave a much lower figure of 50 people detained for "attempts to violate public order", the Interfax news agency said.

Anti-war protesters gathered near the defence ministry in central Moscow and on Manezhnaya square close to the Kremlin.

Demonstrators held up peace signs and posters saying "No to war", while some also held Ukrainian flags and ribbons in the national colours of yellow and light blue.

Many people brought to police stations were accused of resisting police orders, which could carry up to 15 days in jail, Ovdinfo said.

Dozens were also detained in Saint-Petersburg, after some 500 people staged a protest, an AFP correspondent said.

Authorities meanwhile allowed rallies in several cities in support of Putin's policy on intervention, even closing central Moscow boulevards to traffic to allow a march.

Moscow police said 20,000 people took part in a pro-war march as television footage showed people walking with Russian flags as well as yellow-and-black nationalist flags and posters with slogans such as "Bravo Putin!"

The pro-Kremlin United Russia party posted an invitation to the demonstration on its website, saying Russian speakers were "faced with persecution and violence because they speak Russian and are friendly toward Russia."

Moscow police said that supporters of military intervention in Crimea also held a rally of about 50 cars called "We don't abandon our own people".

Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, on Saturday unanimously approved Putin's request to send Russian troops into Ukraine.

Lawmakers also said the Russian ambassador to the United States should be recalled.

Putin said Russia needs to protect the lives of Russian citizens in regions close to Russia and servicemen from its Black Sea fleet after a pro-Western opposition movement deposed Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych.

Kiev accused Russia of covertly invading the Crimean peninsula on Saturday, when armed men occupied several government buildings and the airport and installed checkpoints on the peninsula.

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