Sharad wins RS seat from Bihar; four in fray for 2 other seats
Patna: JD(U) President Sharad Yadav was today elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, but in two other seats, the party’s official candidates were facing stiff challenge from Independents backed by rebels and the BJP. After end of withdrawal deadline at 3:00 PM, Assembly Secretary Hareram Mukhiya declared Sharad Yadav elected unopposed to the seat vacated by LJP President Ramvilas Paswan after victory in the Lok Sabha poll. There were four candidates for the two other seats, Mukhiya, who is returning officer for the three RS seats in Bihar, told reporters here. For the two seats JD(U) official candidates diplomat-politician Pawan Varma and Gulam Rasool Balyawi were being challenged by Independents — real estate baron Anil Sharma and expelled JD(U) leader Sabir Ali respectively who were backed by rebel legislators of Nitish Kumar’s party and the opposition BJP. The two seats for which voting would take place on June 19 were vacated by BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy and RJD’s Ramkripal Yadav. While Rudy won the Lok Sabha election from Saran constituency defeating Rabri Devi, the wife of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Ramkripal Yadav won the Patliputra seat on BJP ticket.Earlier, in the day, BJP legislator Dilip Jaiswal who had filed nomination as Independent for the RS seat vacated by Rudy withdrew his nomination. (PTI)
Take Kashmir migrants into confidence: Rajnath to officials
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked his ministry officials to take Kashmiri migrants into confidence and work on measures for their return to the Kashmir Valley, an official here said Thursday. Senior home ministry officials briefed Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on various issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir, an official statement said. Among the issues taken up in the briefing were the security situation in the state, infiltration from across the border, strengthening of border fencing and rehabilitation of surrendered militants. Issues relating to different migrant groups staying in the state and Kashmiri migrants, who have been displaced from the Valley, were discussed. The discussions also pertained to development projects in the state, prime minister’s reconstruction plan and schemes for upgrading skills of youth. The statement said Rajnath Singh asked the officials to strengthen measures for checking cross-border infiltration and “also desired the ministry to take the Kashmiri migrants into confidence and work on the measures that should be taken up for their return to the Valley”. (IANS)
Beas tragedy: 2 more bodies fished out; 17 still missing
Mandi: Two more bodies of engineering students from Hyderabad were retrieved on Thursday from the Beas river here as the search operations gained momentum with the joining of the Indian Navy divers. The victims were identified as T Upendra and Gomoor Arvind Kumar by their parents, Superintendent of Police Mandi R S Negi said. The bodies were trapped in rocks and rescue teams had a tough time in retrieving them, he said. With this, the number of bodies recovered during the last four days has risen to eight, while the fate of sixteen students and a co-tour leader is still unknown. The bodies of five boys and three girls have been recovered so far and 13 boys and three girls are missing. Meanwhile, 15 divers of the Navy joined the rescue team and an unmanned aerial vehicle has also been deployed to accelerate the search operations. With the melting of snow in higher hills, the discharge of water in the river has increased and over 550 rescue workers from various agencies under the supervision of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are already engaged in the massive search operations. National Disaster Management Authority vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy, who reached the accident site to oversee the rescue operations, said that two more bodies were recovered from the river today. “Our divers are facing the problem of poor visibility, the river bed is full of silt and huge boulders and rock are acting as impediments and it is only through ‘feel’ that the bodies are being recognised,” Reddy said. (PTI)
Man acquitted of rape charge
New Delhi: A man accused of raping a woman on the false pretext of marriage, has been acquitted by a Delhi court which noted that he has now tied the knot with her. Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma freed a Delhi resident in the case after the woman turned hostile and deposed that she had lodged the complaint against him under some confusion. “In her examination-in-chief, she (woman) had not supported the case of the prosecution at all….She had further deposed that now since the accused had already performed marriage with her at Arya Samaj Mandir on January 22, 2014 and presently she is living happily with him, hence she did not want to take any action against him,” the court noted in the judgement. “I am of the considered view that prosecution has failed to bring home the guilt of the accused. Accordingly, accused is acquitted of the allegations under section 376 (rape) IPC,” the judge said. (PTI)