Narayanan, Cong-UF
nominee for Presidency
His election as Head of State is a virtual certainty.
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Death in the valley
An army colonel, six soldiers and three Kashmiri pandits are among the 20 people killed in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
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High court will rule on JD presidential poll on Tuesday
The bench, on June 15, had restrained retired Rajasthan high court Judge Kochar from conducting the JD presidential election, slated for June 18 till further orders
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Some journalists have links with the militants: Farooq
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister attacks the local media, terming press reports that Al Faran had killed the four foreign tourists it abducted nearly two years ago as mere 'conjecture.'
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Empowering the girl child
Every day, in Hyderabad's walled city, nearly 300 girls between 6 and 18 years of age, mainly Muslims, gather in two centres. Here, in addition to basic education, they are taught about children's rights, environment and health care.
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Kerala's half-baked move puts students in dire straits
The government said one third of the pre-degree batches would be linked to schools from this academic year. However, it its yet to announce the names of the schools where the course would be offered.
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Taliban will make India more vulnerable: Iran
The activities of the Taliban, which are getting solid moral and material support from various nations, would have a destablising impact on India and other neighbouring nations, the Iranian ambassador said, adding that it will give a fillip to insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Are We Masters of Our Own Fate?
Nani Palkhivala, the legendary lawyer, discusses the relevance of destiny, in a fascinating feature.
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JUNE 15

Fire Trap!
Friday's fire raises fears that many Delhi movie halls ignore safety norms.
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The audience thought the smoke was part of the special effects
Delhi police and fire brigade sources said most of the victims died of asphyxiation when they were trapped in thick smoke and intense heat generated by the burning of about 50 cars parked right below the Uphaar cinema hall where a transformer burst, causing the fire.
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'The mystique of unctuous self-righteousness that the BJP assidously cultivated has been ripped open all the way from Mumbai to Lucknow'
Mani Shankar Aiyar tells the Rediff Chat. Don't miss Mani's eloquence and wit!
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4 Indians killed in Bahrain arson
Bangladeshis and Indians have been victims of similar attacks in two years of political unrest in the island nation.
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Fear of DMK desertion drives PMK to AIADMK
The PMK fears that, like in 1996, the DMK will ditch it again in the next elections, unless Karunanidhi breaks his alliance with the TMC.
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Cop saves 24 lives before succumbing to landslide
Last week, as landslides unleashed their fury on Gangtok, Mohammd Ayub heard cries for help. Ignoring the menacing cloud-burst which threatened to dampen his spirits, Ayub ran up to the nearby hillock and plunged through mud, rocks and debris to rescue the victims.
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One killed, 18 hurt as militants attack pilgrims convoy
The fair at Khir Bhawani in Jammu and Kashmir is considered a symbol of Hindu-Muslim friendship.
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Petty squabbles delays women's quota in Pak parliament
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief swept to power promising a quota for women in parliament. But last month, his ruling party shot down an Opposition bill seeking just that.
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Politicians believe that riding roughshod over the people is their right, that using the State as their private property is a prerogative of office, and that office is their birthright
Arun Shourie's essay on the lessons we can learn from the hawala scam.
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JUNE 14

Green Card
In its war against illegal immigrants, the Gujral government plans to issue I-cards for Indians and foreign nationals.
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60 feared killed, 150 injured as fire guts Delhi cinema
Most of the casualties were those in the balcony area of the hall which was packed with people who had come to watch the multi-starrer Border on its opening day.
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UF leaders fear Kesri may pull the plug on govt again
"Any move to pull the rug from under Gujral's feet will be preceded by a concrete plan, unlike the March 30 attempt," a Kesri supporter said.
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Kesri's clever move caught Pawar, Pilot napping
The Congress president encouraged some senior party leaders to express their support to Pawar and then ditch him at the eleventh hour.
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Gujral favours TMC at our expense: DMK
''The prime minister's prerogative in effecting changes in his Cabinet can lead to a no-win situation in the long run, as Deve Gowda found out to his dismay,'' said a DMK leader.
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Britain offers to mediate on Kashmir issue
''We are willing to help India and Pakistan in whatever manner possible to resolve the issue,'' said British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Derek Fatchett.
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Defence experts praise Gujral's stand on Prithvi
''The sum and substance of the prime minister's categoric and firm denial is that India will do all, including the deployment of Prithvi, to safeguard its independence and brook no pressure whatsover from any quarter,'' they said.
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Controversial Islamic encyclopaedia puts Kerala government in hot water
The arrest of Professor Parappurath Koya in connection with the publication of an Islamic encyclopaedia, allegedly containing some anti-Indian references, has raised several eyebrows in Kerala.
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...And the caravan moves on
Travels with Advani: Photographer Jewella C Miranda's impressions...
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JUNE 13

It's Kesri!
The Congress president romps home in style.
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Ministries of defence, home accused of negligence in Purulia arms dropping case
"Despite prior information from the British MI-5 agency that a substantial amount of arms (would) be air-dropped in eastern India sometime in December, the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis wing had failed to act," the parliamentary committee report said.
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'The death of terrorists caused me as much anguish as the death of my men'
Former Punjab DGP K P S Gill tells the Rediff Chat.
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Govt spends Rs 20 million on VIP treatments abroad
Officials and politicians recommended for treatment abroad though the government claims that India has state-of-the-art health facilities.
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Television is the opium of the masses: CPI-M
When television channels beam entertainment programmes, the Marxists moan it has become extremely difficult to mobilise people for party work. Party functions organised on Sunday, CPI-M leaders complain, have invariably flopped.
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Govt plans legislation to curb public interest litigation
"If the courts don't lay down parameters, then a legislation is inevitable,'' says Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap. The use of PIL is blown out of proportion, he adds.
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Buta Singh, Kamal Nath and Jain brothers among the nine discharged in hawala case
Kamal Nath may sue CBI for hawala chargesheet. The fact that his name cropped up in the Rs 650 million case resulted in political setbacks for him, he says, including his defeat in the Chindwara Lok Sabha by-election earlier this year.
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In a UP textbook, freedom fighters are labelled terrorists
High School Samajik Vigyan, Part I, a text book on social science, prescribed by the Uttar Pradesh Intermediate Education Board for high school students, describes the heroes of the Independence movement as terrorists.
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Indian tiger may be extinct in five years
Panos report claims that despite renewed efforts to save them, poachers -- with some help from a complacent officialdom -- are wiping out the big cats.
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JUNE 12

The search for the Kanishka killers
Twelve years after 329 people on board the Air-India jumbo jet Kanishka were killed in an explosion over the Atlantic Ocean, Canadian investigators are currently in India to solve the mystery behind the world's worst act of air terrorism.
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'We, Indians, have been living in the dark for the last 50 years. On this 50th anniversary, the best gift the government should give its citizens is The Right to Know'
Activist H D Shourie, who has drafted the Freedom of Information Bill for the government, in an exclusive interview.
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Maran called 'Sakuni', DMK-TMC ties run into rough weather
Power Minister Arcot N Veeraswamy, a confidant of Chief Minister Karunanidhi, says he has told Moopanar that attacks on individuals on the pretext of pointing out mistakes had saddened his partymen.
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Mishra seeks anticipatory bail in fodder scam
The CBI has arrested IAS officers besides one dismissed employee of the animal husbandry department.
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"It is the people who have to bring the change, and not individuals"
Syed Firdaus Ashraf's account of his travels with BJP leader L K Advani.
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Pilot, Pawar try to patch up with Kesri
Both Pawar and Pilot are aware that a victorious Kesri will encourage a second line of leadership in the party at their expense.
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Gujral denies deploying Prithvi missiles
The prime minister said this at a function to mark the induction of the Russian-built Sukhoi-30 aircraft into the Indian Air Force.
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Redefine CTBT to eliminate nuclear weapons: India
"Our national security cannot be safeguarded in a world where legitimacy of nuclear weapons for security is reserved for a select few," says India's permanent representative to the United Nations Prakash Shah.
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Sasikala's return shocks Jayalalitha loyalists
Sacked leader S Thirunavukkarasu's prediction has thus come true.
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New Delhi crime rate zooms as new entrants leave cops clueless
A major hurdle in solving the growing number of crimes in New Delhi is the fact that most of them are committed by 'new entrants', says Delhi Police Commissioner T R Kakkar. This makes it very difficult for the police force to control crime in the capital.
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JUNE 11

Extremists gun down 18 in Tripura
Eighteen people, including eleven Territorial Army and four General Reserve Engineering force personnel, were gunned down in an ambush by tribal terrorists at Chawmanu in Tripura's Dhalat district on Tuesday.
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CBI raids homes of Laloo's aide, 6 IAS officers in fodder scam
Property disproportionate to these officials's known sources of income besides a large number of incriminating documents were seized.
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'Jayalalitha was the fountainhead of corruption. And she has not learnt her lesson'
An exclusive interview with rebel AIADMK leader S Thirunavukkarasu.
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India has not 'openly' deployed missiles: Raphel
Virtually denying last week's article in the Washington Post, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robin Raphel has acknowledged that India has not 'openly' deployed its missiles.
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National human rights panel to probe AP rape cases
Commission demands police rape victims be given Rs 50,000 and a piece of land
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'We will not tolerate amendments in Shariat laws'
The National Women's Commission's bid to open a debate on Muslim personal law is facing stiff resistance from conservative Muslims in Kerala.
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Rains will wash Kerala's power problems away
The Kerala government had this week imposed 100 per cent load shedding for industrial consumers, anticipating further delay in the arrival of the monsoon -- the water in storage was enough to meet the state's power requirements only till June 15.
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Human rights situation grim in Pakistan, says Amnesty
Revenge and torture take precedence over economic and political problems.
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