Binayak plea hearing today, EU team arrives
The Chhattisgarh high court at Bilashpur, nearly 120 km from here, is scheduled to hear a petition on Monday seeking suspension of life sentence awarded to civil rights activist Binayak Sen by a lower court on December 24 for sedition, and also bail for him under the “watchful eyes” of a delegation of European Union.
An eight-member EU delegation arrived here on Sunday evening from New Delhi to attend proceedings of the court when it hears the petition.
The foreign delegates, who landed at the Manna airport here, included Peter Kimpian (Hungary), Rapheal Martin de Lagarde (France), Alexandra Berg Von Linde (Sweden), Florian Burkhardt (Germany), Jochen Anthierens (Belgium), Iain Twigg (UK), Louise de Brass (Denmark), Anne Vaugeer-Chatterjee(EU).
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Two jawans end lives in Dantewada
AGE CORRESPONDENT
RAIPUR
Jan. 23: Two jawans of the CRPF on Sunday committed suicide in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district. However, the cause of their taking extreme steps was yet to be ascertained. The police said one Jagdish Kumar, who was serving as havaldar in Shasastra Seema Bal (SSB) at Dornapal in Dantewad district, poisoned himself to death. Another jawan, Barun Kumar of SSB, shot himself dead at his camp at Konta in the same district in the morning, the police said.
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2 Ulfa rebels killed in encounter
AGE CORRESPONDENT
GUWAHATI
Jan. 23: In an encounter, which is alleged to have been fake one, security forces on Sunday gunned down two outlawed Ulfa sympathisers. The police said that incident took place before dawn at the Badkabhata tea garden near Doomdoma in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district.
The security agencies, which could not identify the youths, said that they are trying to ascertain the identity of the youths who may be Ulfa sympathisers. The local residents of the area said that they were not aware of the encounter, which police claimed continued for half an hour.
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Sabarimala priest: light not manmade
Kochi, Jan. 23: Amid heated debate on whether “Makarajyothi” of Lord Ayyappa shrine is celestial or man-made, the chief priest of Sabarimala temple on Sunday said the controversy was generated only to divert attention from the tragedy that killed 102 devotees.
“Makarajyothi is the star Sirius and Makara villakku a symbolic deeparadhana (aarthi) lit at Ponnamabelamedu,” Kantaru Maheswararu told reporters here. “The recent controversy over Makarajyothi and “Makara Vilakku” was only to divert attention from the tragedy,” he said.
—PTI
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