Eight charred to death

Faizabad, June 6 (PTI) Eight people, including four women and a two-year-old child, were charred to death as the Bolero in which they were travelling caught fire after being hit by a speeding truck coming from the opposite direction on FaizabadLucknow national highway, a senior police official said here today. Seven of the jeep”s occupants, all of whom were killed on the spot, belonged to the same family while the other person who died in the mishap was its driver, Faizabad SP RKS Rathore said.

The accident occurred on the intervening night of Saturday/Sunday when Azizullah, a trader belong to Basti district, was going to Amausi airport in Lucknow to receive his son coming from Dubai after four years, Rathore said. The flight timing was early morning so the family was rushing for the airport.

Immediately after it was hit by the truck, there was a short circuit in the Bolero jeep and it burst into flamwes. Within no time the fire engulfed the whole jeep, killing all its occupants, the police official said.

A search has been launched to nab the truck driver who is absconding, he said.

Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath receives threat letter

Gorakhpur (UP), June 06 (PTI) Firebrand BJP MP Yogi Adityanath and some others have received a “threatening letter” allegedly from ”Jaish-e-Mohammad” terror outfit, police said today. The letter, addressed to the Director General of Police, was received on Friday and was sent through speed post by one Mujahideen Siddiqui, who identified himself as an active member of ”Jaish-e-Mohammad”, they said.

Though police traced the address on the envelope, it was found to be fake, they said, adding further investigation is on. “Security for Yogi Adityanath and the famous Gorakhnath Temple here has been tightened following the threat,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Aseem Arun said.

Similar threatening letters were also received by local BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, Archana Tomar (advocate, Lucknow), Sureshwar Singh (MLA, Mahsi, Bahraich), Prakash Verma (Bajrang Dal, Kanpur) and Divya Giri (Lucknow), sources said. Meanwhile, Adityanath said he would not bow down to such threats and would continue to work for “national integration”.

Jaya snubs SP, sides with Amar

New Delhi, May 28 — Actress-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan on Friday snubbed the Samajwadi Party (SP) by declining its offer for a Rajya Sabha seat, barely two days after the party appeared to have weaned her away from old friend, Amar Singh. A stunned SP leadership confirmed that Jaya informed them about her decision “to take a break from politics”, in a move being seen as a victory for Singh, who was expelled from the party in February. Top SP leaders, including party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, were at a loss of words to explain why the actress was nominated for the Upper House, given her close ties with Amar Singh. Asked by reporters in Lucknow whether Jaya’s husband, Amitabh could be behind her decision, a disappointed Yadav replied : “Amitabh Bachchan has never liked politics. He was elected for the Lok Sabha but after a brief period, he resigned from there.” Indications of SP having miscalculated the situation came in the form of Jaya’s silence following the announcement on Wednesday. Her renomination to Rajya Sabha was being seen as a reward by the party for not siding with Singh, after his expulsion. However, the Bachchan family’s decision not to desert their decades-old family friend Singh appeared to be a result of the meeting between Amitabh and Singh in Mumbai on Thursday. There were reports of relations being strained between the two recently, after Singh made his displeasure public on Jaya’s continuation in the SP.

Having lost out in this round, the SP hurriedly announced party spokesperson Mohan Singh’s name in Jaya’s place, a known Amar Singh baiter.

Jaya Bachchan declines SP offer for Rajya Sabha

Lucknow , May 28 — Caught between Samajwadi Party and expelled SP leader Amar Singh, the film actress-turned politician Jaya Bachchan, 62, on Friday declined the SP’s offer to re-nominate her for Rajya Sabha. The SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lucknow on Friday that the Jaya Bachchan had informed him that she wanted to stay away from the active politics for sometime. Yadav said that party spokesman Mohan Singh, who had lost 2009 Lok Sabha election from Deoria, had been nominated for the Upper House. Even though Amar Singh, a close friend of Bachchan family, had wished his “Bhabi” Jaya Bachchan well on her re-nomination, he certainly did not like the idea. Sources said that in order stop bickering in her family Jaya Bachchan declined the SP’s offer. Jaya’s present term in Upper House expires on July 4, 2010. Even though the SP’s Lok Sabha member from Rampur Jaya Prada had joined Amar Singh camp, Jaya Bachchan had been maintaining safe distance. Amar Singh had however expressed his displeasure over Jaya’s continuous association with SP. Amar Singh said that Jaya had been staying in a party, which had “humiliated” him. Jaya Bachchan had also not attended the Thakur rally organized by Amar Singh in Delhi in March last.

With depleted strength of the party in the state assembly the SP would be able to win just two seats. Apart from 87 MLAs, the party has support of few independent members. The SP thus would be able win two seats, as each candidate required 34 first preference votes.

Jaya Ho, says SP for Amar snub

Lucknow, May 27 — The Samajwadi Party (SP) sprang a surprise on Wednesday by re-nominating actress-turned politician Jaya Bachchan for next month’s Rajya Sabha elections from UP. The move is likely to further alienate former SP leader Amar Singh, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s one-time close aide. Singh was forced to leave the party, along with actress Jayaprada, in February. The announcement also reflects the changed equations between Singh and the Bach-chan family. Singh used to call himself the younger brother of Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya’s superstar husband. He often stated the Bachchans were like family to him. When Singh left the SP, it was widely speculated Jaya would also go with him. But she remained with the SP, raising eyebrows. Jaya did support her political mentor in the days before he finally left the SP, but distanced herself later. In March, at a rally of Thakurs in New Delhi, Singh criticised her for staying with the party. This widened the rift between him and the Bachchans further.

Masood’s nomination is aimed at placating Muslim voters, who had deserted the SP when Yadav cosied up to his bete noire and former BJP leader Kalyan Singh in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Sheesh Mahal cricket from May 31 to June 5

The 57th edition of the All India Sheesh Mahal Cricket Tournament will be organised at Lucknow from May 31 to June 5. This is India’s oldest summer tournament and was founded by late Askari Hasan who was a great sports lover. It was adopted by Sahara in 2006. For the first time, the tournament will be played in T20 format with white ball and players donning coloured clothing. Earlier the tournament was played in 40-40 format.

This year, the tournament will also be providing a good platform to some of the young players to showcase their talent and impress the talent spotters for the Sahara Pune Warriors team of the IPL.

Eight teams featuring some national and international level players are expected to be seen in action during the tournament. The teams have been divided into two pools— teams of Indian Oil, ONGC, Maharashtra Cricket Association and ITC are placed in pool A, pool B includes the teams of Air India, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, India Post and Sahara India. The name of defending champions Rizvi Builders team is missing from the teams’ list.

The ‘Sahara City Homes Sheesh Mahal Cricket Tournament’ will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis. The matches will be played at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium and the Chowk Stadium, with two matches on each ground on May 31, June 1 and June 2. The first match of the day will commence at 6.30 am and the second match will start at 10.00 am on both grounds. The semi-finals will be played June 4 while the final will be played on June 5.

Addressing mediapersons, Abhijeet Sarkar, head of corporate communications, Sahara India Pariwar, informed, “Sahara has plans to develop the event as one of the major cricket tournaments of the sub-continent in the coming years. This will help the game develop at ground level and will provide the international exposure to the local players from different parts of the nation.”

The tournament carries a prize money of Rs 25 lakhs. The winners will become richer by Rs 11 lakhs while the runners-up will be getting Rs 5.5 lakhs. The prestigious and now, also the richest prize-money tournament, has seen many cricket legends playing for the Cup.

Samajwadi Party re-nominates outgoing member Jaya Bachchan for Rajya Sabha

Lucknow, May 26 (ANI): The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday decided to re-nominate outgoing member and film actress Jaya Bachchan in the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.

The decision came as a surprise, as Bachchan is considered close to former party general secretary Amar Singh who was dismissed in February.

Bachchan’s election is slated take place on June 10.

The party’s parliamentary board met here and also decided to field former Union Minister Rashid Masood.

Currently, the Samajwadi Party has 11 members in the Rajya Sabha.

For the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, the party would field three candidates–Balram Yadav, Ram Sunder Das Nishad and Ram Naresh Yadav.

Among the 13 council members, the party had five. (ANI)

Old tournament embraces new format

It was a matter of choice, either continue living up to its purist legacy or to make a brand new and colourful start. Sheesh Mahal, India’s longest running and richest prize-money cricket tournament eventually decided to go the glamorous way.

In its 57th edition — which will commence at the end of the month — the prestigious event will show-off it’s new Twenty20 format, shedding the red-ball-white-clothes image it has donned since inception in 1951. But more than just keeping pace with the changing times, sponsors Sahara, who revived the tournament in 2006 with monetary incentives of Rs 25 lakhs, has reinvented the format to use the tournament as a platform to identify players for its new IPL franchise, Sahara Pune Warriors, ahead of a fresh IPL player auction later this year.

The big names of Team India, rested for the Zimbabwe series, are all expected to be seen in action during the May 31-June 5 eight-team event in Lucknow and will also serve as a form-guide for injured and fringe players for Asia Cup selection.

“The tournament will provide an excellent platform for players to show their potential and be a part of the Sahara Pune Warriors side in the IPL and that was one of the reasons why we decided to adapt to the T20 format. Also, when we tried to hold it last year, we realised that there was no space in the domestic calendar, and all the prominent players were busy,” Abhijit Sarkar, head of corporate communications, Sahara India Pariwar told The Sunday Express.

“We wanted the best players to be playing in it. Time remains a constraint this time too, but T20 helps get on with things. Plus, we have to accept that cricket looks attractive in coloured clothing and under lights,” Sarkar added.

The evolution of Sheesh Mahal has seen the format reducing by days. It was first played over three days, then in a two-day format, followed by a 40-over a side event before becoming T20 from this year. The change of format and IPL talent scout programme has the present crop excited about the fresh opportunities coming their way. But India’s former cricketers have expressed their reservations about overwhelming influence of IPL and T20 cricket.

“It’s doing great damage,” said former Test cricketer Madan Lal. “Back in our days, a good performance in Sheesh Mahal opened doors for national selection. Such was the competition and stature of the tournament.”

Vinay fashions PNB victory in Sanwal cricket

An 88 run knock by Vinay Tiwari paved the way for an eight wicket victory for Punjab National Bank (PNB) against SIDBI team in their semi-final match of the 19th RC Sanwal Memorial Inter Bank Cricket Tournament played at LDA Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday. Vinay’s 88 came off 49 balls which featured eleven boundaries and a six. On behalf of SIDBI, T Balaji (68 runs off 58 balls; 5×4, 2×6) was the main run-getter.

Brief Scores:

SIDBI: 150 for five in 20 overs ( T Balaji 68, V Ramesh 36; Sachin 1 for 24, Yogesh 1 for 19); PNB: 154 for two in 17.1 overs ( Vinay Tiwari 88, Yogesh Mishra 33; Yogesh 1 for 29, Dinesh 1 for 23). Man-of-the-Match: Vinay Tiwari.

Arshad, Rajesh shineAn unbeaten 73 run knock by SM Arshad went a long away as his team— Indian Eleven Club registered a nine wicket victory against Awadh Tiger’s Academy in their league match of the 2nd Eram Cup Cricket Tournament at Northern Railway Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday. The star performer on behalf of Awadh Tigers was Rajesh who scored 83 runs for the team. While, Arshad’s unbeaten 73 resulted off 47 balls which included 11 boundaries and a six, Rajesh’s 83 resulted off 59 deliveries which included 12 fours and 2 sixes.

Brief Scores:

Awadh Tiger’s Academy: 143 for one in 20 overs ( Rajesh 83, Bunty Singh 41; Ashfaq 1 for 39); Indian Eleven Club: 144 for one in 9.4 overs ( SM Arshad 73 not out, Rahul Yadav 25, Naman Tripathi 18; Saurabh Singh 1 for 35).

Vishwajeet’s tonVishwajeet Singh blasted an unbeaten century as his team— Cricket Association Lucknow (CAL) defeated Muzaffarnagar XI by seven wickets in their league match of the Vaibhav Memorial Inter District Cricket Tournament played at Victoria Park, Meerut on Thursday. Vishwajeet scored 108 runs off 70 balls which featured six boundaries and two huge sixes.

Brief Scores:

Muzaffarnagar: 156 all out in 35 overs ( Atul Singh 71, Lokendra 27; Vipin Singh 3 for 23, Akshdeep Nath 2 for 16);

CAL XI: 159 for three in 20.5 overs ( Vishwajeet Singh 108 not out, Raman Pal Singh 24; Shubham 1 for 29, Vicky 1 for 40).

Chess tourneyThe ‘Lucknow district chess selection tourney’ for under-9 and under-19 age group will be organised from 9.00 am on April 25 at International Chess Research and Development Academy, Indira Nagar, Lucknow, by the Lucknow District Chess Sports Association.

Hony. secretary UP Chess Sports Association, AK Raizada, informs that the selected players will be participating in the state chess championship to be held at Varanasi from May 9.

Those interested may contact organiser Arun Singh (mobile no. 9839171721) for details.

FelicitationThe Uttar Pradesh government will be giving away prize money to those UP players who brought laurels to the state at the national level in the junior, senior and sub-junior sections. The felicitation function will be held at 4.00 pm on Friday, March 23 at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium, Lucknow. As per a press statement from Deputy Director Sports (UP) AK Banoda, the players as well as their respective sports association secretaries should report at the ‘Babu’ Stadium at 12.00 noon on March 23.

Mayawati expels Mukhtar Ansari from BSP

Lucknow, April 17 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has expelled criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Afzal Ansari from the party.

A press release issued on Friday by the party said that the decision to expel them was being taken as the two were involved in anti-party and criminal activities.

Both Afzal and Mukhtar are currently in jail in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Krishnanand Rai.

According to the release, Mukhtar had failed to live up to the expectations of the BSP where he was given entry on the promise that he would mend his ways.

Recently, during a raid in Ghazipur jail, authorities recovered mobile phones and other objectionable material from Mukhtar”s possession.

He was also found to be regularly meeting people and running his criminal empire from the jail premises. (ANI)

Cabinet gives nod to set up six AIIMS-like institutions

New Delhi, Mar 19 (ANI): The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the revised cost estimates (RCE) for setting up of six new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) like institutions in different parts of the country.

The cabinet approved cost estimates also includes upgradation of 13 existing Government Medical Colleges under The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) -Phase I for an outlay of Rs.9307.62 crore.

The allocation made for the PMSSY-Phase I projects for the XI Plan was Rs.3955 crore, additional expenditure involved would be Rs.5535.62 crore.

The PMSSY was initially started in March, 2006 with the object of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable and reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

The PMSSY has two components in its first phase –setting up of six AIIMS-like institutions and upgradation of thirteen existing Government medical college institutions.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic affairs (CCE) approved the proposal for setting up AIIMS-like institutions in March 2006 and upgrdation proposal in June 2006.

However, the allocation of XI Plan is sufficient to meet the expenditure in the remaining two years of the plan period.

The new institutions and upgraded facilities in the existing medical colleges would provide tertiary health care facilities in and around the location and adjoining districts and States in the country.

The projects under Phase-I of PMSSY are spread over 19 locations in the 16 States of the country.

The new AIIMS-like institutions are located at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh.

The AIIMS-like institutions will be completed by the end of 2012.

The upgradation components in Phase-I involves upgradation of Government Medical Colleges at Trivandrum, Salem, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jammu and Srinagar; NIMS, Hyderabad; SGPGIMS, Lucknow; B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad; RIMS, Ranchi; IMS, BHU, Varanasi; SVIMS, Tirupati; and Grants Medical College, Mumbai. (ANI)

Two poachers held with 80 tortoises in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, March 16 (IANS) Two poachers were arrested Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district and 80 tortoises were recovered from their possession, police said.

The two men from Kolkata, in their mid 30s, were arrested from a railway station in Jaunpur, some 250 km from Lucknow.

‘The two have admitted that they have been working for a poaching racket that operates from Kolkata, Nepal and several districts of Uttar Pradesh,’ government railway police (GRP) inspector R.K. Singh told reporters in Jaunpur.

‘The two have also confessed their involvement in smuggling wild animals’ skins, hides, antlers on several occasions in the past. The two have been into the illegal trade for nearly last six years,’ he added.

According to GRP officials, some of the tortoises were alive and were handed over to the forest officials.

The officials were yet to ascertain the place from where the duo had brought the tortoises. ‘They are giving contradictory statements about it,’ said Singh.

India has banned the trade of tortoises under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act but the huge premium and lax laws are increasingly luring poachers to the trade.

‘A case under Section 9 (prohibition of hunting) and Section 49B (prohibition of animal trading) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been lodged against the two,’ Singh said.

Tortoises are killed for their meat and are used in preparation of some medicines, officials said.

Mayawati declines to meet with US ambassador

Lucknow, March 16 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has declined to meet US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer, who arrived here Tuesday on a two-day visit to the state, citing her ‘busy political schedule’.

‘The chief minister had a very busy political schedule as number of party leaders from different parts of the country were here at this time and meetings were fixed with different groups long before word came from the US embassy,’ a senior official in the chief minister’s personal secretariat said.

‘By the time we received a request from the US embassy, it was too late for the chief minister to alter her programmes and fit a meeting with the ambassador in her schedule,’ the official added.

A formal letter has also been sent by the chief minister’s secretariat to the US embassy.

Roemer called on Governor B.L.Joshi, after which he went on a visit to a USAID project in a neighbouring village.

According to a US embassy official, Roemer earlier visited Bihar and Karnataka, where their chief ministers Nitish Kumar and B.S. Yeddyurappa not only met him, but also spent some time with him.

Mayawati challenges Income Tax probe with another currency garland

Lucknow, March 17 (ANI): Despite being criticised over the currency garland controversy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Wednesday defied the authorities by appearing again with a second currency garland.

Sources said the garland was presented to Mayawati by her supporters and is worth Rs 18 lakhs.

A BSP legislator said, “The money for the currency garland was collected with the help of donations from 18 BSP party-units.”

Mayawati had earlier called for an emergency meeting of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to discuss the currency garland controversy involving her.

She was severely criticized both inside and outside Parliament as the currency garland controversy sparked demands for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the source of money used to make the garland reportedly worth Rs 5 crore.

The emergency meeting was called as the Income Tax Department is expected to begin an inquiry into the controversy.

The department is reportedly collecting photographs and video footage of the garland from various sources, including newspapers and TV channels that covered the event.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress both have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter, questioning the source from where the money had come.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh has accused Mayawati of misusing public money, and said that she is not the daughter of a Dalit, but the daughter of wealth.

Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev has also criticized her of doing business through politics.

The multi-crore garland was just a small part of the extravagant Rs 200 crore celebrations that marked the BSP”s 25th anniversary, and its founder Kanshi Ram”s birthday, with a massive rally in Lucknow. (ANI)

Rs.5 crore garland for Mayawati?

Lucknow, March 15 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was Monday presented a giant garland of currency notes by her fans from Karnataka. Though the exact value of the garland is not known, onlookers put it in the region of a whopping Rs.5 crore!

In fact, no one noticed the Rs.1,000 currency notes with which the giant garland was created until these were identified by a local photographer when he zoomed in.

Earlier, while Mayawati was being garlanded, mediapersons could make out from a distance that it was not a run-of-the-mill garland. But beholders perceived it as one made of some exquisite imported flowers.

However, the mystery was unravelled no sooner than the still pictures were promptly lifted and beamed by TV channels.

Those present on the dais, however, feigned ignorance about the unique garland in which some 50,000 currency notes of Rs.1,000 each were believed to have been used.

The garland was specially crafted and brought by Mayawati’s party functionaries all the way from Bangalore for Monday’s mega rally organised by her to mark the Bahujan Samaj Party’s silver jubilee celebrations, which coincided with the 76th birth anniversary of party founder and her political mentor Kanshi Ram.

Attempts to freeze BSP symbol a conspiracy of opposition parties, says Mayawati

Lucknow, March 15 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati on Monday said that the attempts to freeze her party’s election symbol through various objections were a conspiracy backed by the opposition parties.

Ms. Mayawati also rejected the description that the elephant statues erected in parks and memorials to Dalit icons were related to her party”s election symbol, as she said that the statues the elephants have been shown welcoming with their snouts up, whereas the elephant in the BSP”s election symbol has been shown with its snout down.

The BSP is to submit its reply on a petition filed against the elephant statues with the poll panel on March 18.

Addressing her party’s massive rally on the occasion of 25 years BSP”s existence and the birth anniversary of its founder Kanshi Ram, at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan here on Monday, Ms. Mayawati said the Election Commission should take a view of the Congress and SP”s symbols.

Cycles were being distributed to the beneficiaries of the Savitribai Phule Scheme for girls launched by the BSP Government and the hand was used by leaders of all political parties to welcome people, Ms. Mayawati said.

During her 90 minute long address Ms. Mayawati trained her guns on the Congress and dubbed it as anti-Dalit, which supported the caste system.

Justifying the erection of her own statues along with other BSP leaders, Ms. Mayawati said: “Is there any law in the country which bans building statues of living leaders and whether funds can be spent only on erecting statues of dead leaders and not the living ones?”.

She pointed out that the statues of form prime ministers and congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have been erected throughout the country by the Congress and several schemes, colleges, universities, airports, railway stations and roads using government funds have been named after them.

In last 63 years since Independence crores have been spent on building memorials and museums of Gandhi-Nehru family. But, when statues and memorials to Mr. Kanshi Ram and other icons are built, the BSP Government has been charged by the opposition with misusing government money, Ms. Mayawati reminded the public in the rally.

However, a giant garland, which was put around Ms. Mayawati by BSP supporters, attracted attention of all, as it was alleged that it was made of Rs. 1,000 Indian currency notes. (ANI)

Attempts to freeze BSP symbol a conspiracy of opposition parties, says Mayawati

Lucknow, March 15 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati on Monday said that the attempts to freeze her party’s election symbol through various objections were a conspiracy backed by the opposition parties.

Ms. Mayawati also rejected the description that the elephant statues erected in parks and memorials to Dalit icons were related to her party”s election symbol, as she said that the statues the elephants have been shown welcoming with their snouts up, whereas the elephant in the BSP”s election symbol has been shown with its snout down.

The BSP is to submit its reply on a petition filed against the elephant statues with the poll panel on March 18.

Addressing her party’s massive rally on the occasion of 25 years BSP”s existence and the birth anniversary of its founder Kanshi Ram, at the Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan here on Monday, Ms. Mayawati said the Election Commission should take a view of the Congress and SP”s symbols.

Cycles were being distributed to the beneficiaries of the Savitribai Phule Scheme for girls launched by the BSP Government and the hand was used by leaders of all political parties to welcome people, Ms. Mayawati said.

During her 90 minute long address Ms. Mayawati trained her guns on the Congress and dubbed it as anti-Dalit, which supported the caste system.

Justifying the erection of her own statues along with other BSP leaders, Ms. Mayawati said: “Is there any law in the country which bans building statues of living leaders and whether funds can be spent only on erecting statues of dead leaders and not the living ones?”.

She pointed out that the statues of form prime ministers and congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have been erected throughout the country by the Congress and several schemes, colleges, universities, airports, railway stations and roads using government funds have been named after them.

In last 63 years since Independence crores have been spent on building memorials and museums of Gandhi-Nehru family. But, when statues and memorials to Mr. Kanshi Ram and other icons are built, the BSP Government has been charged by the opposition with misusing government money, Ms. Mayawati reminded the public in the rally.

However, a giant garland, which was put around Ms. Mayawati by BSP supporters, attracted attention of all, as it was alleged that it was made of Rs. 1,000 Indian currency notes. (ANI)

Centre playing politics over Pratapgarh incident: Mayawati

Lucknow, Mar 10 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday expressed her grief over the Pratapgarh incident and criticised the Central Government for playing politics in the name of providing funds.

“There was no help from the Centre. There was politics in the name of providing funds,” said Mayawati.

“The State Government helped to the fullest manner,” she added.

“The government would provide Rs 2.5 lakh to the family members of the dead and Rs 75,000 to those severely injured,” claimed Mayawati.

Mayawati had earlier claimed that the state was facing an ”acute financial crisis” and was not in a position to give any monetary compensation to the families of those killed or injured in Thursday”s (March 4) Pratapgarh stampede.

Around 63 people were killed in a stampede in Kripaluji Maharaj Ashram in Mangarh village of Pratapgarh District on March 4.

Mayawati urged the Central Government to compensate the victims” family.

Earlier, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had announced Rs. two-lakh compensation from the Prime Minister”s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of the victims of Pratapgarh stampede.

The preliminary report of investigation in Pratapgarh stampede blamed the local administration and the ashram authorities for the incident.

Four people including the manager of the Ashram have been arrested in connection with the stampede, which is being investigated by the Allahabad Divisional Commissioner. (ANI)

Shia Muslims to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday

Lucknow, Sept 20 (ANI): A senior official of Shia Muslim community has said that Eid-ul-Fitr would be celebrated on Monday.

Kalbe Sadiq, Shia cleric and senior vice president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said here that the Ramadan moon would be sighted on Sunday.

“I can say without any doubt that in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and in India, the moon will be sighted on Sunday. Sunni, Shia and all other sects of Islam will celebrate the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday,” Sadiq said.

However, Sunni Muslims disagreed, saying they would wait for the sighting of moon before declaring Eid.

“If the moon is sighted on September 20, or if the sighting in reported form anywhere, then Eid will be celebrated on the 21st. And if it is not sighted on the 20th and there are no reports either, in that case it will be celebrated on the 22nd,” said Maulana Khalid Rasheed, head of Lucknow’s Firangi Mahal.

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims observe a daylong fast and open it in the evening.

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims throughout the world observe a joyous three-day celebration called Eid-ul-Fitr.

Eid-ul-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month, which follows Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. It is a time to give in charity to those in need, and celebrate with family and friends the completion of a month of blessings and joy. (ANI)

Muslims in Lucknow offer ‘Alvida Namaz’ before Eid

Lucknow, Sep 18(ANI): Muslims gathered in huge numbers at several mosques of Lucknow on Friday to offer the ‘Alvida Namaz’ marking the last Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.

“We prayed to the Lord to raise the financial status of Muslims and also eradicate all their problems. In India, Hindu and Muslims have been living together for several centuries and we want them to be like this in future,” said Moulvi Faizul Rehman, an Islamic cleric at a mosque in Lucknow.

Highlighting the significance of the ‘Alvida Namaz’, Mohammad Sayeed, a Namazi said that it is the reason why thousands of Muslim from across the city gather to offer prayers.

“During Ramadan if we participate in the ‘Alvida Namaz’ and offer our prayers, then we get a reward for it and it will usher prosperity to us,” Sayeed said.

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Hijri lunar calendar, commemorates the revelation of Quran, Islam’s holy book, and has traditionally been a time of religious fervour, settling old disputes and behaving charitably towards neighbours.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Considered auspicious for prayers, Muslims observe the month-long fasting named ‘Roza’.

They believe this secures them a place in heaven and also brings them face to face with Allah, the Almighty, on the day of ‘Kayamat’.

The end of Ramadan heralds the festival of Eid-ul-fitr. (ANI)