| 10/03/2010 | Thousands in call to free kidnapped Sahil |
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Thousands of people across the country have joined internet campaigns demanding the release of Oldham youngster Sahil Saeed. The five-year-old was snatched by armed robbers from his grandmother’s house in Pakistan on the last day of a two-week family holiday with his father. 
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| 10/03/2010 | Eleven arrests in ‘crash for cash’ investigation |
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Police have today arrested 11 people in connection with an investigation into so called ‘crash for cash’ insurance fraud. The 10 men and one woman were arrested when officers visited a number of addresses in the Lancashire and Greater Manchester areas this morning. 
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| 10/03/2010 | United fans 'conned in cup final ticket scam' |
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A conman who was jailed for selling big-match football tickets that didn’t exist has been accused of cheating United supporters out of hundreds of pounds in a new scam. Amrik Gill, 23, from Chorlton, was locked up and ordered to pay thousands in compensation after appearing in court THREE times last year for conning fans over the internet. Now United supporters desperate for tickets for the Reds’ Carling Cup Final against Aston Villa claim they were ripped off by Gill. 
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| 10/03/2010 | Shahid Malik meets Somalian president |
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Communities Minister Shahid Malik met with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The President is visiting the UK as a guest of the government. He met with Mr Malik at the Houses of Parliament where the minister underlined the UK’s support for Somalia. 
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| 10/03/2010 | Shyam Benegal celebrated at film festival |
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One of India’s leading filmmakers, Shyam Benegal, is in the UK for a series of events exploring his vast career and celebrating his achievements in Indian cinema. As part of the Tongues on Fire 12th Asian Film Festival, the director is attending a range of functions across London, including a BAFTA interview, a director’s workshop at the University of Westminster, and a talk on women in films at the Nehru Centre. 
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| 08/03/2010 | From tea-boy to Bollywood star - Abhishek Bachchan on his climb to fame |
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In a 36 hour visit to the UK, Abhishek Bachchan gave London audiences an insight into his life and work at the 12th London Asian Film Festival. The actor opened the ten day series of events with a BAFTA interview and gala dinner on Friday, wrapping his jam-packed visit with an Actor’s Masterclass at a West End cinema on Saturday, before flying home. 
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| 03/03/2010 | Akshay Kumar kickstarts shoot for Tees Maar Khan |
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Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and Bollywood’s most lovable director, Farah Khan have just kick-started their already-hyped new venture Tees Maar Khan at Mumbai's Film City. Akshay is currently shooting his introductory shot in the film - a major action comedy scene on a huge jumbo jet constructed by set director, Sabu Cyril. 
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| 03/03/2010 | Hrithik Roshan on the colours of love |
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On the occasion of Holi, Hrithik Roshan speaks up on his colourful life and his upcoming movie Kites, which stars Brazilian actress Barbara Mori and the beautiful Kangana Ranaut in a never-seen-before role. 
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| 08/03/2010 | 12th London Asian Film Festival attracts Bollywood stars |
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Bollywood fans in the UK will get the chance to interact with some of the biggest names in the Hindi film industry at the Tongues on Fire 12th London Asian Film Festival (5-14 March 2010). Leading Bollywood figures are scheduled to attend including Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Jaya Bachchan, Soha Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore. 
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| 01/03/2010 | Abhay Deol raring to go with Road, Movie |
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One of the big winners at the weekend Filmfare awards was Abhay Deol starrer Dev D, which bagged a handful of statuettes.
Now the poster boy of offbeat Hindi cinema is back with his new release, Indo-American production Road, Movie. 
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| 24/02/2010 | Search is on for the next Rishi Rich Project band members |
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Music producer Rishi Rich has launched the search for the next Rishi Rich Project group members. After successfully putting together Juggy D and Jay Sean as part of the original chart topping Rishi Rich Project, he is now looking for the stars of the future. 
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| 22/02/2010 | Official Asian download chart announced |
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The BBC Asian Network has announced that it will broadcast the world’s first official Asian download chart. Presented by Bobby Friction, the three hour extended show is set to launch on Saturday 27 March from 3pm – 6pm. 
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| 22/02/2010 | Anurag Basu rubbishes rumours that Rajkumar Hirani is to edit Kites |
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Director Anurag Basu has rubbished reports that producer Rakesh Roshan wanted 3 Idiots helmer Rajkumar Hirani to edit his film Kites. 
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| 10/03/2010 | Teen charged for sexual offences |
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A man has been charged following an investigation into allegations of sexual grooming.
Junaid Bhuta, aged 18 of Manchester Road, Frenchwood, is charged with grooming a girl under the age of 16, rape of a girl under 13, and two counts of sexual activity with a girl under 13. |
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| 10/03/2010 | Top employee award for Faruk |
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Bolton at Home employee Faruk Adam is celebrating after scooping the best new employee award at the organisation’s annual Employee Awards. A special presentation took place at Mere Hall where employees were rewarded for their outstanding commitment and contributions to fellow employees, customers and the wider community, over the last 12 months. 
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| 09/03/2010 | Recognition for business champion Razia |
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An entrepreneur from Nelson has been recognised for her work encouraging others to start businesses. Razia Ahmed, who runs Aquarius Driving School, was among the Business Champions presented with certificates at an event at Burnley FC’s Turf Moor ground. They also discussed other ways to get more people into business. 
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| 09/03/2010 | £1m counterfeit cash gang jailed |
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A man who circulated fake cash around Hyndburn has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Yasin Patel was part of a gang that attempted to produce more than £1M of counterfeit coins and notes. 
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| 09/03/2010 | South Asian communities at risk of vitamin D deficiency |
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Babies and toddlers of South Asian origin are amongst the most at risk of vitamin D deficiency. The Department of Health is urging all pregnant and breastfeeding women to take a daily vitamin D supplement to ensure their babies get enough and are at less risk of developing a vitamin D deficiency. 
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| 09/03/2010 | New agony for family of kidnapped Sahil |
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The family of kidnapped boy Sahil Saeed have suffered fresh anguish after hopes he had been found turned out to be a false alarm. Reports from Pakistan yesterday suggested there had been a breakthrough in the search for the Oldham five-year-old. 
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| 09/03/2010 | ‘No hate’ film crew earns a top rating |
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An award winning youth group from Wardleworth in Rochdale are taking their work to other young people around the borough as part of a project about community cohesion. Towards the end of last year, the Don't Hate Us, Rate Us group received the 'best issue based drama' award at a ceremony in Manchester for their short film based on terrorism. 
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| 11/03/2010 | Advani does a Modi, calls for compulsory voting |
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Observing that voting percentage among the educated section was far lower than that in the lower rungs of society, senior BJP leader L K Advani has favoured compulsory voting as a remedial measure.
"If a survey is taken of the comparative percentage of voting in different sectors of the society, classified education wise, I have little doubt that voting percentage among the graduates, post graduates and those in the still higher categories, would be far, far lower than at the lower rungs of society," Advani says in his latest blog.
Arguing that such a situation is bound to affect the quality of Indian democracy, he said, this can be changed through the simple measure of compulsory voting.
"...I feel it can be (changed). One simple way is the innovative measure adopted by Narendra Bhai Modi - compulsory voting," he said.
www.indianexpress.com/news/advani-does-a-modi-calls-for-compulsory-voting/589206/
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| 11/03/2010 | Exiled journalists asked to return |
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Sri Lanka’s Attorney General Mohan Peiris has said he was prepared to offer protection to any of the nation’s journalists who return to the country from exile, the US based media rights group, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said
"Speaking for myself, and I’m fairly sure the government will back me up on this, there is no question that the government needs our journalists," Peiris has told a CPJ delegation. "They must come back and work with us and help set up the structures so that we can work together and we can respect each other. We must work with these institutions because we need them. We know if they stay outside and attack the government that is not useful."
When asked if the government would ensure their safety, Peries said, "Of course, if they come back, there must be assurance on our part that they won’t come to any harm."
http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/2277-exiled-journalists-asked-to-return.html
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| 11/03/2010 | At FS talks, Pak said call in Ministers next, India said no |
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Barely two weeks after India and Pakistan sought to break the ice through Foreign Secretary-level talks, it now emerges that the two sides hardly made any headway in the conversation with almost no meeting ground on any of the proposals put forward by either side.
It’s learnt that Pakistan came to the table with a “roadmap” leading to the resumption of composite dialogue which entailed an invitation for External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to visit Pakistan. But India was more keen on broadening the discussions at official levels and suggested a “technical meeting” to improve cross-LoC trade as a measure to show it was not skirting the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, sources said, conveyed that the three terror dossiers could have been handed over to the Pakistan High Commissioner and that his coming here should lead to a more substantive outcome. In this context, he extended the invitation for Krishna on behalf of the Pakistan Foreign Minister to visit Islamabad and suggested that Foreign Secretaries could meet a day before to finalise the agenda.
www.indianexpress.com/news/at-fs-talks-pak-said-call-in-ministers-next-india-said-no/589441/
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| 11/03/2010 | Cong-Lalu deal: No-trust move put on hold |
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Lalu Yadav has backed out of a no-trust motion against the UPA government. And, the Centre responded in backing Lalu in the disproportionate assets case in the Supreme Court. Is there a deal between Congress and Lalu?
The day after the women’s reservation bill got passed in Rajya Sabha, the desperate Yadav troika had raised the pitch further on the bill. They had even drafted a no-confidence motion against the UPA government and sought support from some known Congress baiters like Shiv Sena, to cobble together the required 50 Lok Sabha MPs to get the no-trust motion adopted.
Manohar Joshi, senior Shiv Sena Leader, said: "If a no-confidence motion is brought we will support." But the BJP had refused to support the Yadavs earlier, saying it’s too early for a no-trust motion.
ibnlive.in.com/news/conglalu-deal-notrust-move-put-on-hold/111347-37.html
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| 11/03/2010 | BJP’s Lok Sabha MPs split over women’s quota bill |
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The United Progressive Alliance Government secured Rajya Sabha’s endorsement on the historic Women’s Reservation Bill but its fate still seems uncertain.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which helped the Government push the Bill through the Rajya Sabha, is now facing revolt from some of its Lok Sabha MPs.
With some BJP Lok Sabha MPs not in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill, the UPA Government is unlikely to introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha before April 12, when the House returns from a three-week break.
The MPs have told BJP senior leaders that no whip should be issued to vote in favour of the Bill as it may be defied. The view that the BJP was trapped by the Congress-led UPA on the Women’s Reservation Bill, too, is gaining ground.
Sources say BJP leaders are upset with the Government over the manner in which marshals were used to evict the suspended Rajya Sabha members who sought to block the Bill.
The UPA needs the support of the BJP in Lok Sabha to garner a two-thirds majority for the Bill to be passed.
ibnlive.in.com/news/bjps-lok-sabha-mps-split-over-womens-quota-bill/111363-37.html
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| 11/03/2010 | Mollified Didi meets Sonia, but mum on LS plans |
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Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, a day after she stumped the government by getting her MPs to abstain from voting over the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
“We raised our concern regarding minorities and also the way the Bill was taken up in the Rajya Sabha. Soniaji gave us assurance that we would have a chance to discuss the whole issue before the Bill comes up in the Lok Sabha,” Mamata told reporters after the meeting at 10 Janpath.
However, it is still not clear what path the Trinamool would take when the Bill comes to the Lok Sabha. The party remains wary about voting on the same side as the CPM, though it doesn’t want to put further strain on its alliance with the Congress.
www.indianexpress.com/news/mollified-didi-meets-sonia-but-mum-on-ls-plans/589399/
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| 10/03/2010 | Why no quota for women in Rajya Sabha, asks Mamata |
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A day after her party boycotted voting on the women’s reservation bill, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked why a third of the Rajya Sabha seats too should not be kept for women.
"Why there is no 33 percent reservation for women in the Rajya Sabha?" an upset Banerjee asked reporters.
The Trinamool Congress chief said that her party had "so many times" raised the issue of reservation for women in the Rajya Sabha.
Banerjee said her party supported the women’s bill in principle but would discuss the stand to be taken in the Lok Sabha when the bill comes up in the lower house. The Lok Sabha is tipped to pass the bill by March 16.
The historic women’s bill reserves a third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures.
"We were not informed," Banerjee insisted, when asked why her party abstained from voting Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha where the Trinamool has two MPs, Mukul Roy and Swapan Sadhan Bose.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/why-no-quota-for-women-in-rajya-sabha-asks-mamata/111333-37.html
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| 10/03/2010 | Moves to strengthen LTTE abroad - PM |
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Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told Parliament yesterday that there were international forces unfavourable to us attempting to strengthen the LTTE terrorist organisation abroad.
They are assisted by certain local elements that wish to destabilize the Government and arrest the country’s rapid economic development drive, Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said.
The Prime Minister making his statement moving the motion to extend the State of Emergency by another one month, said certain elements attempting to strengthen the LTTE were arrested in Germany and another LTTE working abroad was arrested in Dehiwala.
"There were anti-Sri Lankan schemes in progress with the support of certain super powers in the world as well as certain other organisations."
The Prime Minister expressed his regret over the fact that there were groups in the country who were engaged in collecting facts and distorting them to support cooked up allegations put forward by anti national forces.
www.dailynews.lk/2010/03/10/pol01.asp
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| 10/03/2010 | Madhya Pradesh CM wants Gita in school curricula |
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First it was sun worship and yoga in government schools and now the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made it a mission to introduce the Bhagavad Gita in school curricula.
“I had met swami Arganad and there this thought had come why not introduce the Bhagwad Gita as a moral science subject. I am very seriously contemplating on this,” said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Proponents call it an inspired plan. Chouhan critics call it yet another step by the BJP to saffronise schools.
"The Shivraj Singh led government wants to do everything that will annoy the minorities. That is their aim,” said Congress MLA Arif Aqueel.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/madhya-pradesh-cm-wants-gita-in-school-curricula/111309-3.html?from=tn
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| 10/03/2010 | Fonseka suspends fast |
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General Sarath Fonseka suspended his fast unto death today morning when the military granted him permission to speak to his daughters via his wife’s mobile phone last night, his wife Anoma Fonseka said.
Speaking to Daily Mirror Online, Mrs. Fonseka said that the military had contacted her late last evening, asking her to visit her husband immediately with her mobile phone as he had been granted permission to speak to his children through her number.
"I went to see my husband at around 11 in the night after the military called me. He spoke to his daughter’s through my mobile phone and now he is a bit relieved,” Mrs. Fonseka said.
The military had earlier provided telephone facilities to the General which he had refused insisting that he would stop his fast only if he was given his wife’s mobile phone.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/2245-fonseka-suspends-fast-unto-death.html
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| 10/03/2010 | I never wanted to back out, we have seen worse: Sonia Gandhi |
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi was confident of the stability of the Manmohan Singh government despite opposition from the RJD, the SP and the BSP to the women’s Bill and their reported threat to withdraw support to the UPA.
Asked whether the Centre was stable, she said: "I think so. But one can never tell. I am not an astrologer…." Although she hoped the UPA’s former partners would remain with them, she added that the Congress-led combine would be "okay".
"I can’t see any issue coming up. The DMK and the NCP are fully in support of the Bill. At the cabinet meeting, I’m told, Mamata Banerjee was quite enthusiastic. If there had to be any problem, it would have been evident then," she told reporters in Parliament House even as the Rajya Sabha debated the Bill.
As for new allies, she said "let’s see". She admitted there was "some nervousness, some concern. But then we have seen worse situations."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/I-never-wanted-to-back-out-we-have-seen-worse-Sonia-Gandhi/H1-Article1-517163.aspx
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| 10/03/2010 | Can women’s quota bill pass Lok Sabha test? |
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The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government is elated after the Rajya Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill but the real test is still to take place in the Lok Sabha.
With Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress opposing the Bill and the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party withdrawing support to the UPA Government, the future seems uncertain.
The Government may still have the numbers in the Lok Sabha, but it is fast shrinking. The majority is now just wafer thin, making passage of reforms and bold policies difficult.
Before the Women’s Reservation Bill was brought in Parliament the UPA enjoyed the support of 321 MPs.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/can-womens-quota-bill-pass-lok-sabha-test/111310-37.html?from=tn
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| 10/03/2010 | India takes a giant leap for womankind |
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In a giant leap for womankind of the sort few countries have attempted before, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday voted to amend the Constitution to reserve one-third of seats in Parliament and the State Assemblies for women.
The House recorded its vote of 191 for and 1 against at 7.25 p.m. Sharad Joshi of the Swatanatra Bharat Paksh was the lone naysayer when Chairman Hamid Ansari took the final count on the passage of the historic Women’s Reservation Bill after three hours of debate. The Bill, formally known as the 108th constitutional amendment, must now be passed by the Lok Sabha and ratified by at least half the States for becoming effective.
www.hindu.com/2010/03/10/stories/2010031064600100.htm
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| 10/03/2010 | Pak army involved in 26/11 terror attacks: Prosecution |
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Pakistan army was involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and a serving Major General had supervised their training across the border at LeT camps, the prosecution told a special court in Mumbai.
Opening its final arguments in the case, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist, and his nine slain accomplices had undergone military and intelligence training at the hands of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which was supervised by certain officers of the Pakistan army.
"The conspiracy of the 26/11 attack was hatched on Pakistan soil and inevitable inference can be drawn that the attack was State-sponsored," he said.
ibnlive.in.com/news/pak-army-involved-in-2611-terror-attacks-prosecution/111285-3.html
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| 10/03/2010 | Now or never, says Sonia; and party falls in line |
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It was Sonia Gandhi’s decisive “now or never” stand, underlined at Monday night’s core group meeting, that eventually paved the way for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha today. Overriding concerns expressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that opposition over the Bill would affect the smooth passage of the government’s financial business in Parliament, she made her stand clear — and the shift in the UPA strategy as the Upper House met on Tuesday was evident.
After hearing out both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister at the meeting, Sonia, according to sources, said there was no point in putting the Bill on the backburner simply because of threats from opposing parties.
www.indianexpress.com/news/now-or-never-says-sonia-and-party-falls-in-line/588973/
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