Protesting Sikhs stop rail service in Punjab

Demanding arrest of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh in the wake of the Mumbai firing incident, nearly 150 Sikh protestors have gathered near Amritsar railway station and stopped several trains. At least five trains are held up by protestors near Amritsar and Abohar stations, which include: Amritsar-Delhi Shatabdi and Sach Khand express, Abha Tufan, Abohar-Haridwar express and intercity between Abohar and Ganganagar. The Sikh protesters squatted on the track at several places, including Amritsar, Sirhind, Malout, Abohar, Sangrur and Rajpura in Punjab to protest against the killing of a community member allegedly by a bodyguard of the Dera chief in Mumbai last week. On Tuesday, Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal asked for a judicial probe into the firing by the private security guards of controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief in a Mumbai mall. In another resolution, the party demanded that the Dera chief should not be allowed to take his gunmen inside the court either. The 'rail roko' call given by Damdami Taksal, SAD (Amritsar) and certain radical Sikh organisations asked the protesters to remain peaceful.

Priests at Delhi temple pray for Obama

At a temple in Jhandewalan, Barack Obama's approval ratings for becoming the US President are at an all-time high. And 11 priests are performing a special havan at Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple for him. Their prayers and good wishes are meant to help Barack Obama. ''A Hanuman devotee is going to become the most powerful man on earth and so we decided to send him a Hanuman idol after six months of consideration,'' says Braj Mohan Bhama, a priest at the temple. These priests are expressing their solidarity in an 11-day long havan after reading that Senator Obama carries a tiny hanuman as a good luck charm. And after the havan, they will send a 15 kg hanuman, built specially for the Senator, to America. In Barack Obama, the priests at Sankat Mochan Dham Hanuman temple have found another hanuman bhakt. And they really don't care if he's a Democrat or a Republican. All they care about is that Obama is a good-hearted man.

Criminal case likely against Jaya Bachchan in 2006 RS bypoll case 

LUCKNOW: A criminal case is likely to be registered against Bollywood actress and Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan for hiding facts in her affidavit filed in the Rajya Sabha byelection held in June 2006, official sources said. After being disqualified as a Rajya Sabha (RS) member in 2006 for holding an office of profit, Ms Bachchan could again be trapped in a legal battle for concealing facts in an affidavit filed during RS byelection in 2006. An FIR against Ms Bachchan is likely to be lodged on behalf of Principal Secretary, Vidhan Sabha, R P Pandey, who was the Returning Officer of the bypoll, the sources said. Mr Pandey had asked Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Lucknow, Akhil Kumar, to register a case against Ms Bachchan for concealing facts about two pieces of land in Barabanki in the name of her husband Amitabh Bachchan in the affidavit. However, the Lucknow SSP said here that he will take legal opinion before registering the case against Ms Bachchan. The SSP said that he received the letter of Mr R P Pandey, who asked him to file the case. As the matter involves political fallouts, the state police was going slow and considering all pros and cons in the matter. Mr Pandey took action on the directives of the Election Commission on a petition filed by one Amir Haidar of Barabanki.