Top India News Stories of 21st October 2008

Daily news summary

CPI-M, BSP walkout in LS
CPI-M and BSP today staged walkout over the anti-Christian violence in Orissa’s Kandhmahal district and the house’s inability to protect its members' privileges. Only yesterday Lok Sabha had to be adjourned twice over the issues of attack on north Indians by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Tamil civilians caught in military conflict in Sri Lanka and the alleged discrimination against Kerala by the Centre. Basudev Acharya of the CPI-M wanted to discuss anti-Christian violence in Orissa, but Speaker Somnath Chatterjee barred him to speak.

Only 2 pc stock investors in India: Minister
As the stock markets are crashing world over due to meltdown in US, the minister of state for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal stated in a written reply to Rajya Sabha that only two per cent of Indians invest in stock markets. The minister’s remark comes just a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India may have to face a slowdown despite strong economic fundamentals. The minister asserted that current boom in oil economies will be supportive of Indian exports and inward remittances.

MNS supporters go on rampage after Raj Thackery’s arrest
As the news of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackery’s arrest spread like a wildfire in Mumbai, MNS supporters went on a rampage against the arrest of their leader. One police van was torched on the Western Express Highway including 38 BEST public buses set on fire in Bandra suburb and surrounding areas. Leaders of different political parties have hailed the arrest of Thackeray accusing him of creating regional enmity. “Raj wants to create disturbance just before the elections to gain political mileage as he has no concrete base in Maharashtra,” said Congress leader Rita Joshi Bahuguna. Raj Thackeray was today granted bail within minutes of being sent to 14 days judicial custody for the attacks on north Indians by his party cadre on Sunday. However, he was given to police custody in another case of violence by MNS activists.

Congress, BJP in trouble over poll candidates in Madhya Pradesh
Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party are now facing an uphill task over selection of candidates for assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The Election Commission has already announced assembly poll dates in various states. Both BJP and Congress want to replace many of their sitting MLAs with the new candidates, but both the parties are fearing dissent from workers and leaders if they were denied tickets. BJP wants to replace some 60 sitting MLAs out of 173 in the 230-member assembly, sources said.

Centre sets up resource centre to fight cyber crime
With the increase of cyber crime and growing incidents of hacking, the government has set up a Resource Centre for Cyber Forensics (RCCF) at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Thiruvananthapuram. Minister of State for Communications and IT Jyotiraditya M. Scindia informed the house that government already introduced the Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2006 in parliament, which deals with, among other things, new forms of cyber crimes. The bill also includes e-commerce frauds through impersonation commonly known as phishing, identity theft and offensive messages through communication service.

Arrest ‘raped’ nun, demands RSS; nun ready for CBI probe
Hundreds of women of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti - an outfit affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, today staged demonstrations demandin the arrest of a nun who was raped during the violence that erupted in the area in August further vitiating the already surcharged atmosphere in Orissa's Kandhamal district. "The allegations made by the nun appear to be baseless because she is not coming forward to identify the people already arrested. If she was raped she should come forward and identify the culprits. The state government has already announced to extend all security and help," the organisation's zonal organising secretaty Suchitra Mohapatra said. However, reacting to this Global Council of Indian Christians regional coordinator Asit Kumar Mohanty said, "Nobody has any right to say the nun has filed a false case." He pointed out, "The Crime Branch (of the Orissa Police), which is probing into the incident, has not said that she has filed a false case." Meanwhile, the nun has said she is open to investigation if the Central Bureau of Investigation is allowed to conduct the probe because she has lost faith in the Orissa police.

Rain postpones human chain event in Tamil Nadu
Heavy rains led to the postponement of the human chain event planned by the ruling DMK party to protest the alleged killings of minority Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. The met department has predicted heavy rains in Tamil Nadu for the next two days. Thus the human chain event has been postponed to the 24th of the month. Last week all 16 Lok Sabha MPs and four Rajya Sabha members of DMK handed their resignation to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi over the issue. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have had a series of interactions with the SriLankan governmenrt over the issue and later on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be visiting Colombo to hold talks on this matter.

Thiruvananthapuram observes 97th shutdown in two years
Thiruvananthapuram remained closed today over the demand for a high court bench in the city - the 97th shutdown here in a span of just over two years. The shutdown was called by the Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association backed by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Barring stray incidents of stone pelting the shutdown was a largely a peaceful one with all the educational institutes, hotels and restaurants in the district remaining shut. The Bar president Sitaram said that the shutdowm marks the 250th day of the agitation demanding a Kerala High Court bench in the capital city. The number 97 includes both regional and statewide shutdowns ever since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government took charge in May 2006. The 96th shutdown was called when Rashtriya Swayam Sevak activist forcibly shut down establishments over the killing of one of their fellow activists.

Maoist rebels free abducted railway employees
Maoist rebels in the jungle of Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district set four abducted railway employees free, five days after their abduction. Unconfirmed reports said that the railways paid around Rs.2 million as ransom to ensure their safe release. Two deputy station masters S.K. Kesari and S.D. Ekka, Assistant Station Master (ASM) Kamal Kishore and guard of Barwadih railway station Munsi Praasad were abducted at gunpoint from Macluksignaj railway station on October 15. The shocked employees have divulged no information so far. Police say that the smaller Maoist rebel outfits are eyeing the extra money given to railway employees after implementation of the sixth pay commission recommendations. Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. In the last seven years over 1,300 people have been killed, including 714 civilians and 320 security personnel.

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