In a bizarre and frightening turn of events, three motorcycle borne youths went on a stabbing spree in the trans-Gomti area of the Lucknow on Friday night, leaving five persons seriously injured.
All the incidents took place within a radius of 1 kilometre around midnight. The first target on Friday night was P.K. Singh, an assistant engineer who was out on an after-dinner stroll. The miscreants came on a motorbike and stabbed Singh in the stomach before speeding away.
When the engineer was taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and the police was called in, four more stab victims arrived — all claiming that they had been attacked by the men on motorbikes.
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Sibal: Time to focus on curricular reforms
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, March 31
With the Right to Education completing its two years, HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said that the state governments should now also focus on strict implementation of provisions against corporal punishment and detention and initiate curricular reforms. He asserted that improving the quality of education is critical if the objective of the RTE Act is to be fulfilled. Noting a decline in school dropout rate in states like Bihar, where it has come down to about seven per cent following the implementation of the RTE Act, Mr Sibal pointed out that 32 states had notified the rules so far.
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‘Phase 1 discussions on hostages over’
Akshaya Kumar Sahoo
Bhubaneswar, March 31
The two interlocutors, B.D. Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty, who are holding talks with the Orissa government representatives for securing release of abducted Italian national Basusco Paolo on Saturday declared on Saturday that their first phase of discussion was over.
They assured the state government that they would come back for the second round of discussion as and when asked to do so.
“We have already discussed about the 13 demands of the Maoists with the state government representatives. Now, it is up to them to take decisions on those demands. We will come back to as and when the state government requests us,” said Mr Sharma.
State home secretary Upendra Nath Behera, who is leading the three-member state team to solve the hostage crisis, met the interlocutors in the afternoon and told them that the government was “examining” the demands.
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Maoist sway in orissa poll areas worries pc
age correspondent
new delhi, March 31
Home minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday said that it had come to its notice that a large number of candidates were getting elected “unopposed” in panchayat elections in Orissa where Maoists hold sway and alerted the state government about it. “We have pointed out that an unusual number of candidates have been elected unopposed in the Naxal-dominated areas... we have pointed out the downsides of such a decision,” he said during a press conference.
On the recent death of 12 CRPF personnel in a landmine blast by Maoists in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, he said that preliminary reports suggested that standard operating procedures were not followed.