Only BJP has challenged vote-bank politics: Modi Rajnandgaon: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said only BJP had challenged the prevailing vote-bank politics in the country. At a rally in Rajnandgaon, the Assembly constituency of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Modi said before BJP came to power in December 2003, there was no growth in this mineral-rich state. "The country has witnessed vote-bank politics for fifty years. After gaining power through vote-bank politics, leaders subsequently promoted...  
10:24 PM, May 18, 2013

Odisha chit fund scam: Seashore office sealed Bhubaneswar: Continuing its action against chit fund companies and others duping investors, police on Saturday sealed the corporate office of Seashore Group and took Artha Tatwa group chief Pradip Sethi to its custody for four days. The Crime Branch failed to arrest Seashore Group chief Prashant Das, who obtained an anticipatory bail from the Orissa High Court, but sealed its corporate office and seized certain documents and computers, said Crime...  
10:13 PM, May 18, 2013

Naroda Patiya case: SIT to seek SC guidance on Kodnani death penalty Ahmedabad: After a U-turn by the Gujarat government on the death penalty for former minister Maya Kodnani and nine others, convicted in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, the SIT has decided to seek Supreme Court's guidance on the issue. "Very soon, we are going to file an application before the special bench of the Supreme Court apprising it about the recent Gujarat Government's decision to withdraw the sanction for filing...  
06:42 PM, May 18, 2013

India losing sheen as an agricultural nation: Modi Bharuch: India would not have lost its sheen as a country of farmers if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had been the first Prime Minister, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, ruing the "poor" national agricultural growth. "The nation is falling behind in agriculture. If 'Khedut Putra' (son of farmer), Sardar Patel had become the first Prime Minister, this would not have happened to our farmers... Somehow, we took the...  
05:31 PM, May 18, 2013

Odisha investment scam: Seashore Group's office sealed Bhubaneswar: More than a fortnight after CNN-IBN exposed that Odisha-based Seashore Group had duped over 1.5 lakh investors of Rs 1700 crore, the state's crime branch on Saturday sealed the headquarters of the group in Bhubaneshwar. The company had reportedly offered investors 24 per cent interest per annum. While the chairman of Seashore Group Prashant Das has yet not been arrested, the police had earlier detained over a hundred staff...  
12:21 PM, May 18, 2013

Odisha: Man arrested for allegdly raping nine-year-old
by IANS
Bhubaneswar: A man has been arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl in an Odisha village, police said on Saturday. Santosh Rout, 45, was arrested after the girl's father lodged a complaint on Friday. The victim, a Class five student, had suffered injury marks on her body, a police officer said. Rout allegedly dragged the girl to a secluded place and raped her on Thursday evening when she had gone to...  
10:32 AM, May 18, 2013

Odisha chit fund scam: Police intensifies crackdown
by IANS
Bhubaneswar: At least 177 people were arrested in different parts of Odisha during the past week for their involvement in illegal money circulation and chit fund activities, a police official said on Friday. The crackdown on the firms began May 10, 2013 and about 200 offices of 84 companies were raided, Rajesh Kumar, deputy inspector general (economic offence wing) of the crime branch police, told IANS. The arrested include two...  
05:45 AM, May 18, 2013

Odisha chit fund scam: BJP rejects Cong demand for CBI probe Bhubaneswar: With investors across Odisha demanding action against the chit fund companies which duped them of crores of rupees, opposition BJP and Congress on Friday respectively demanded judicial probe and CBI investigation into the matter. "As one chief of an accused chit fund company has said that some ministers and MLAs are hand-in-glove with him to cheat people, the government must reveal their names and announce a judicial probe into...  
11:01 PM, May 17, 2013

Graham Staines murder: 2 accused arrested in Keonjhar Keonjhar: Fourteen years after Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons were burnt alive by a crowd in Odisha, police have arrested two more accused in the case. The duo was arrested from Keonjhar in Odisha. Staines, along with his two minor sons - Philip and Timothy, was burnt alive on January 22, 1999 by a crowd while they were asleep in their station wagon at Manoharpur village...  
12:56 PM, May 17, 2013

Odisha chit fund: Police arrest 2 Saradha Group employees Bhubaneswar: After nabbing over 160 people across Odisha on charges of running or helping illegal money laundering, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch (CB), arrested two employees of Saradha Group on Thursday. The EOW took Basudev Samal and BN Das into custody on charge of helping Saradha Group chief to cheat gullible investors in Balasore district. While Samal was working as the branch manager of Saradha group's...  
10:28 PM, May 16, 2013

Naxals strong in non-Congress ruled states: Ramesh Dhar (MP): Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said Naxalism is strong only in those states where Congress is not in power. "Naxalism is strong only in those states where Congress is not in power like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha among others," the Union Minister said, addressing a 'Parivartan Rally' in Bordha village of the district. Ramesh said that whenever Congress is weakened in these states, Naxalism...  
08:55 PM, May 16, 2013

Lalit Modi says rules are being bent for some owners New Delhi: Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi, while defending himself and his tenure in the IPL, said he had information about match-fixing and spot-fixing in the sport and that he had told CEO Sundar Raman about irregularities in IPL. He also said he was attacked and criticised for trying to bring "accountability and transparency" in IPL. "There should be zero-tolerance against incidents such as spot-fixing and there...  
07:23 PM, May 16, 2013

'NDA allies have no veto power on BJP's PM candidate' Ahmedabad: Asserting that NDA allies have no veto power on BJP's choice of prime ministerial candidate, party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had acknowledged in the past that the nominee will be from the saffron party. "BJP is part of NDA and we respect all our allies. But one thing is clear that the prime ministerial candidate will be of BJP and...  
02:06 AM, May 16, 2013

NCW asks Odisha to recommend CBI probe into doctor's death Bhubaneswar: Unhappy over the probe by Crime Branch of state police into the mysterious death of a lady doctor in Puri in 2012, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Wednesday suggested Odisha government to recommend a CBI probe into the matter. "We do not feel the state police is undertaking investigation into the death case involving a lady doctor in right way. Therefore, we suggest Odisha government to recommend...  
01:46 AM, May 16, 2013

BJP red-faced over CBI chargesheet against Gulab Chand Kataria New Delhi: Rajasthan BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria may have been chargesheeted by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. But, as the BJP alleged, is Gujarat CM Narendra Modi the real target of the CBI? The CBI's move to chargesheet Kataria brought out the entire BJP brass against the CBI on Wednesday, with BJP president Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and even Kataria-baiter Vasundhara Raje putting up a strong...  
08:13 PM, May 15, 2013

Fake encounter: BJP backs Kataria, says CBI targeting Modi New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday lashed out at the Central Bureau of Investigation and questioned its investigations into the Sohrabuddin and Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter cases. The BJP defended Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan Gulab Chand Kataria saying allegations against him were politically motivated. He also said that the Congress was misusing the CBI to target Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "Charges against Gulab Chand Kataria...  
01:48 PM, May 15, 2013

Rain, thundershower likely in Odisha due to cyclone 'Mahasen' Bhubaneswar: Rain and thundershower are likely to lash many parts of coastal Odisha and some other areas under the impact of the cyclonic storm 'Mahasen', centred about 760 km south of Paradip on Tuesday, Meteorological Centre said. The cyclonic storm over the south-east Bay of Bengal moved northwards and lay centred near latitude 13.50 N and longitude 85.50 E, about 760 km south of the port town of Paradip, the...  
11:32 AM, May 15, 2013

Thundershower likely in Odisha under impact of 'Mahasen' Bhubaneswar: Rain and thundershower are likely to lash many parts of coastal Odisha and some other areas under the impact of the cyclonic storm 'Mahasen', centred about 760 km south of Paradip on Tuesday, Meteorological Centre said. The cyclonic storm over the south-east Bay of Bengal moved northwards and lay centred near latitude 13.50 N and longitude 85.50 E, about 760 km south of the port town of Paradip, the...  
03:51 PM, May 14, 2013

Naroda Patiya case: Cong says no change in Modi's mindset New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday flayed Gujarat government for withholding its decision to seek death for Maya Kodnani in the Naroda Patiya case, saying there has been no change in the mindset of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his feelings about a community. "It proves that Modi has not changed. He was like this in the past and will remain so in the future. There has been no change in...  
02:14 PM, May 14, 2013

J&K Deputy CM in the dock over illegal appointments Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir State Accountability Commission (SAC) has ordered a regular enquiry into the alleged role of Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand in the illegal appointments in urban local bodies. A Division bench of the Commission, comprising chairman Justice (retd) YP Nargotra and Justice (retd) Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain, on Monday directed for a regular enquiry into the allegations of misuse of official position by Chand in the illegal recruitments...  
12:58 PM, May 14, 2013