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Top Stories
Case
against Kanchi
seer falling apart
What is India News Service,
Saturday, 8 January 2005, 2100 hrs IST
Behind the bars for over two months, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati may finally have
something to cheer about.
During the hearing on his bail petition in Sankararaman murder case in the Supreme Court on
Friday, the prosecution case seemed to be falling apart
as the seer's counsel F S Nariman hammered on glaring loopholes in TN police allegations on source of money
paid to the assailants.
After claiming it had clinching evidence against the seer, the prosecution failed further embarrassment by
its silence on the so-called confessional statement of
the seer where he was alleged to have admitted his involvement in the crime. The state government had
first opposed the bail before the Madras high court
During the arguments it also became clear that the police had not recorded any dying declaration of
Sanakaraman and its version was based on statement of
a witness.
Similarly, TN police had alleged that the seer had a chopper ready to escape to Nepal. But during the
copurse of hearing the prosecution failed to identify
the owner of the chopper.
After two-days of marathon arguments, Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti and Justices GP Mathur and
P P Naolekhar reserved judgment on the Kanchi seer's
Special Leave Petition against rejection of his bail plea in the Sankararaman Murder Case by the Madras
High Court. He has been in jail since November 12.
Acharya will not visit Mutt if released on bail:
If the Supreme Court grants bail to the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi will not visit the Kanchi Sankara Mutt till the Tamil Nadu police complete their investigation.
The state police had alleged that as most
of the witnesses in the case were employees of the mutt, granting bail to Sankaracharya would hinder
the investigation.
Three killed in `fidayeen' attack: A deputy commandant of the Border Security Force, a jawan and a policeman were killed and four persons, including a security officer, injured when a two-man `fidayeen' squad attacked the Income Tax office here
on Friday.
Talks on Baglihar dam fail:
The India-Pakistan talks on the construction of the Baglihar dam on the Chenab river in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir broke down
on Friday.
Dual citizenship for NRIs who left after January 26, 1950: Paying rich tributes to the 2.5 million knowledge and opportunity-seeking Indians settled abroad, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today offered dual citizenship to all those who migrated from the country
its first Republic Day. Also read: What
is dual citizenship?
Pitroda,
Shyamalan among honourees: Telecom czar Sam Pitroda, economist Jagdish
Bhagwati, Hollywood filmmaker Manoj Night Shyamalan and novelist Vikram Seth are among 15 overseas Indians to be honoured by President A P J Abdul Kalam in Mumbai on Jan 9.
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Tsunami
NRIs pledge support for victims:
Non Resident Indians (NRIs), currently in Mumbai for the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas, have expressed a desire to contribute for the tsunami victims.
New Delhi's tsunami aid phobia misplaced?: The centre's stand on foreign help has irked a section of the NRI community whose families have been affected by the calamity.
Fisherfolk block road demanding relief:
Tsunamai affected members of the fishing community, today blocked a main road at Thiruvottriyur in the northern part of the city, for nearly four
hours.
Orphans need to be
registered, says UNICEF: Orphaned children in tsunami-hit areas need to be registered imediately and place in the care of a responsible adult, the United Nations said today.
All you need is compassion:
Aid is not about air-dropping food packets. It's about rebuilding a sense of one's own self in hard times.
PM visits Andaman, assures restoration:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today reassured the people of the tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands that the Centre would do everything possible to deal with the tragedy and reconstruct the island.
Two aftershocks felt in Andamans
on Friday: Two quakes of moderate intensity occurred in the Andaman and Nicobar.
India offers financial aid to Indonesia: India proposed extending "concessional lines of credit" to Indonesia for the "reconstruction of roads, buildings and harbours" in Aceh province, which was ravaged by the tsunami 12 days ago.
States
Congress, JMM finalise seat-sharing pact: The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha struck a seat-sharing agreement for the February Assembly elections to the 81-member Assembly in the State. The JMM would contest 35 seats and the Congress 33.
Poojary to remain
Karnataka's Congress president for now: Aspirants to the post have met AICC office-bearers and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
RJD to go without Cong in Bihar:
Angered by the Congress-JMM tie-up in Jharkhand, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday bluntly told the Congress that it was free to go on its own in the assembly polls next month in Bihar.
Pappu threatens Beur jail staff:
Incarcerated RJD MP Pappu Yadav on Saturday stirred another controversy with Beur Jail staff complaining that he had threatened to eliminate them for disallowing him to meet visitors.
Neighbours
Pakistan opposition
starts second phase of movement: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal on Friday launched the second phase of its protest campaign against President Pervez Musharraf's decision to retain the office of the army chief.
Committee on religion column fails to reach consensus:
The Pakistan ministerial sub-committee on the religion column in machine-readable passports met here on Friday
but failed to reach a consensus.
View from abroad
Maj Gen Mehta UN's Defence Advisor:
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has appointed Major General Randhir Kumar Mehta as the new Military Adviser in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
Overall
Prosecution fumbling in Kanchi case: The incarcerated Shankaracharya's
counsel told the Supreme Court the police were changing their stand on key
issues.
Register orphans, Unicef said: The international organisation is
keen that documentation is done properly now that several people want to adopt
tsunami orphans.
Lalu decided to go without the Congress: The Bihar strongman is irked
that the Congress has signed a poll deal with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
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