DMK functionary, Jaya rival arrested
Theni: A DMK functionary who contested against AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa in Andipatti constituency in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections was on Thursday remanded to judicial custody for allegedly ransacking a polling booth in the constituency, police said. Seeman, 52, a DMK functionary, was arrested in Chennai yesterday and brought here today, police said. He had been issued several warrants by the judicial magistrate here to appear before the court in connection with the case but as he did not appear, Magistrate Sundararajan had issued an arrest warrant on Feb 3, 2011, they said. Following his arrest, the magistrate remanded him to 15 days judicial custody, they said. Seeman had been booked under various sections, including 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 506 (I)(Criminal intimidation) of the IPC, they said. (PTI)
CBI’s conviction rate improves
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) conviction rate has improved over last year, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V. Narayanasamy said Thursday. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said 745 cases probed by the agency reached the conviction stage in courts in 2010 with a conviction percentage of 70.8 percent as against 719 cases in 2009 with a conviction percentage of 64.4 percent. Out of 186 cases registered on reference from various state governments from 2006-11 (till June 30), 40 cases were under various stages of investigation, he said. Out of 629 cases referred by various constitutional courts during this period, 113 cases were under various stages of investigation, the minister said. (IANS)
Separatist leaders under house arrest
Srinagar: The authorities Thursday imposed restrictions on the movement of senior separatist leaders in the Jammu and Kashmir summer capital to scuttle a gathering at the Eidgah grounds here. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabir Shah and Muhammad Nayeem Khan were placed under house arrest in Srinagar city, police here said. “Restrictions have been imposed on the movement of some separatist leaders to maintain law and order,” as senior police officer told IANS. The separatists had called for an assembly at the Eidgah grounds in the old city areas of Srinagar to observe the death anniversary of a senior separatist leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, killed in a firing incident this day in 2008 in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.Aziz and some other separatist leaders were leading a march Aug 11, 2008 to breach the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between the two parts of Kashmir. (IANS)
FB, gay marriage in Lalu’s line of fire
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Thursday demanded a debate in the Lok Sabha on “degrading” Indian values due to cultural aggression from internet and other tools originating in the west. “Where is our country headed to?” Lalu Prasad said, referring to Delhi’s first slut walk, held last week to denounce the view that women’s dress is to blame for the sexual harassment they face. “Thousands of people marched on roads stripped, wearing colourful tattoos… they were celebrating. This is a serious issue and we demand a discussion on it,” he thundered in the house. He said Indians were close to allowing same sex marriage. “Woman will marry woman. And you are accepting it silently,” Lalu Prasad said, referring to a Delhi High Court 2009 ruling decriminalising same-sex behaviour among consenting adults. He said India was the land of saints and sages and the “Western cultural aggression is destroying our culture”. “Vulgarity, internet chatting, Valentine Day, internet, Ipod, facebook – all these things have been brought from America, and that is why obscenity is growing. We are losing our cultural values, legacies,” he said. (IANS)