Katju demands permanent visa for Taslima
New Delhi: Holding that Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been hounded for her novel ‘Lajja’, Press Council of India chairperson Justice Markandey Katju on Friday demanded that she be given a permanent visa to reside in India. In a statement released here, Katju said he had read in the newspapers that Nasreen’s visa has been extended by the Indian government by only 2 months. “In my opinion she should be given a permanent visa to reside in India,” Katju, a former judge of the Supreme Court said. “Several bigots and fanatics have hounded her ever since she wrote her book ‘Lajja’. I have read the book. It only depicts the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh after the demolition of Babri Masjid. There is nothing against Islam in that book,” he said. The controversial writer, who is living in exile since 1994, has been refused a one-year visa by the government and instead given permission to stay in India for two months. The 51-year-old writer had applied for a resident permit and the Home Ministry granted her the same type of visa but only for two months beginning August 1. Upset over India’s decision to grant her 2-month visa, Nasreen, who had to leave Bangladesh in 1994 in the wake of death threat by fundamentalist outfits for her alleged anti-Islamic views, said the decision was “beyond my imagination”. Taslima is now a citizen of Sweden. She had been living in exile since 1994 and has lived in the US, Europe and India in the last two decades. (PTI)
Jharkhand Speaker recognises merger of parties with Trinamool
Ranchi: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Shashank Sekhar Bhokta on Friday recognised the recent merger of Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JJM) and Rastriya Kalyan Paksh (RKP) with the Trinamool Congress. Bhokta informed the House that JJM MLA Bandhu Tirkey and RKP legislator Chamra Linda had in March given him letters informing about the merger of their respective parties with the All India Trinamool Congress. “I recognise the merger” the Speaker said on the opening day of the monsoon session. Tirkey and Linda, who contested elections as JJM and RKP candidates in the 2009 polls, joined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of party General Secretary Mukul Roy in March this year. (PTI)
Explosives, 3550 detonators, gelatin sticks seized in Bihar
Dehri-on-Sone (Bihar): About five kilogrammes of explosives along with over 3000 detonators and 1000 gelatin sticks were on Friday seized by police from a village in Rohtas district of Bihar. Rohtas Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Kushwaha said 1811 gelatin sticks, 3550 detonators and 5 kg ammonium nitrate were seized from Barahiya Bag village. Three persons were arrested in this connection, he said. The arrested persons were identified as Anish Pasi, Arun Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar. Police officials were probing whether the arrested persons had any links with the Maoists. The police has launched investigation to trace the origin and the destination of the cache of explosives, the SP said. (PTI)
Western Command gets new chief
Chandi Mandir: Lieutenant General K J Singh, AVSM, on Friday took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command here in a simple ceremony. The GOC-in-C visited ‘Sarva Dharma Sthal’ and paid homage to the ‘martyrs’ at the ‘Veer Smriti’, according to a defence release here. He reviewed the Guard of Honor, which was presented by 63 Cavalry, his parent Regiment, which he has commanded. The General Officer is the Colonel of 63 Cavalry and 83 Armored Regiment. Gen Singh was commissioned in 63 Cavalry on June 11, 1977 and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He has taken over the reins from Lt Gen Philip Campose, who has moved to the Army Head Headquarters. (PTI)
Mother kills sons before committing suicide
Berhampur (Odisha): A 40-year-old woman allegedly killed her two minor sons before committing suicide at Raipanka in Gajapati district. The bodies were found after a family member informed the police that the door of their room was bolted from inside and no one had responded to his knocking on Thursday. The deceased were identified as Jhumuri Patra (40), and her two sons Swambit (6) and Swagat (4). It is suspected that the woman strangulated her two sons to death and then hanged herself from the ceiling of the room. The incident appeared to have taken place after Wednesday midnight, SDPO (R Udayagiri) R K Sethi said. The eldest of her three sons was away as he studied in a school near Berhampur, he said. Jhumuri’s husband runs a grocery shop in the village. The SDPO said family dispute might have driven the woman to take the extreme step, but ruled out poverty for the cause of the deaths. (PTI)