Highlights of India’s national electionsKey details of India’s national elections, which ended Thursday with a fifth and final phase of voting: Election Commission ‘immensely satisfied’ with polls: Naveen ChawlaNEW DELHI - The Election Commission Wednesday said it was ‘immensely satisfied’ with the entire process of the staggered five-phase general elections that started April 16 and ended May 13. Five-phase 2009 general electionsNEW DELHI - An overview of the staggered five-phase general elections that started April 16 and ended May 13. Here are some of the facts: Turk who shot Pope John Paul II says he wants to convert to Christianity after prison releaseANKARA, Turkey — The man who shot Pope John Paul II says he would like to convert to Christianity at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican soon after his release from prison in January, his lawyer said Wednesday. Turk who shot Pope John Paul II wants to convert to Christianity after prison releaseANKARA, Turkey — The gunman who shot Pope John Paul II says he would like to convert to Christianity at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican after his release from prison in January. EC says, 6000 villages, hamlets undergoing polls are vulnerableNEW DELHI - The Election Commission has declared that people in 6,000 villages and hamlets in seven states and two Union Territories, going to polls in the final phase of Lok Sabha Elections, are vulnerable to threats and intimidation. 823 candidates in fray in Tamil NaduCHENNAI - Over 40 million voters in Tamil Nadu will decide the electoral fate of 823 candidates in the fray May 13, the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO) said Monday. Raucous campaign in Tamil Nadu comes to an endCHENNAI - Electioneering by Lok Sabha aspirants for the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry came to an end Monday evening, giving citizens some respite from the cacophony that went on for over a month. Separatist leader Sajjad Lone contesting polls in KashmirBARAMULLA - Having plunged headlong into an electoral campaign as the first separatist in Kashmir to contest the polls since a revolt broke out in Kashmir in 1989, People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone says he has changed his strategy, not his ideology. Campaigning for fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls ends todayNEW DELHI - Campaigning in eighty-six constituencies in six states and two Union Territories that will go to polls in the fifth phase of general elections on May 13 will come to an end this evening. Rahul has a lot to learn about villages: Sushma SwarajSHIMLA - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj Saturday said that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had a lot to learn about the villages of India. Left’s strength will remain intact in Bengal: SarkarAGARTALA - Tripura Chief Minister and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member Manik Sarkar is confident that the party’s strength in its citadel West Bengal would remain intact despite the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance. Sonia Gandhi to campaign in ChennaiCHENNAI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address an election rally here Sunday along with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Congress party members said Friday. ‘Election contests are like marketing new products’CHENNAI - The Mumbai terror attacks may not have prodded Mumbaikars to stir out and vote in large numbers in the Lok Sabha polls but prompted E. Sarath Babu, who was raised in a slum and went to the Indian Institute of Management, to enter the electoral fray in Tamil Nadu. Visually imparted caste vote in Delhi for the fourth phaseNEW DELHI / JAISALMER - As hundreds of thousands of people voted in the national capital on Thursday despite scorching heat, several visually impaired voters also exercised their franchise and voted joyfully. Fourth round of voting ends in India, parties look post-pollNEW DELHI - Four people were killed in poll violence in West Bengal and Rajasthan Thursday as nearly 54 million voters exercised their franchise in eight states in the fourth and penultimate round of India’s parliamentary elections, with major parties exploring post-poll equations in the face of what is widely expected to be a splintered verdict. Kapil Dev campaigns for AzharuddinMORADABAD / MATHURA - Former Indian cricket skipper Kapil Dev campaigned for the successful innings of fellow cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin as a politician at Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. Singur, Nandigram vote in round two (Poll Curtainraiser - West Bengal)KOLKATA - The second phase of elections in West Bengal will be of interest not just to politicos but also India Inc with Nandigram and Singur, the two areas which hit the spotlight for anti-industrialisation protests, going to the hustings Thursday. Hindus want Angels and Demons movie rated as RHindus have censured Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) of USA for assigning upcoming film “Angels and Demons” a PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) rating, which they stress deserved R (Restricted) rating.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that this film was unnecessarily playing with the sentiments of the faithful for mercantile greed. He has urged CARA to reconsider its earlier rating decision and raise its rating to “R” (Restricted: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said CARA should ask the makers of “Angels and Demons” to insert a disclaimer in bold letters in the beginning and towards the end of the movie explaining that it was purely the work of fiction. Same information about its fictional character should be included in all the publicity material and trailers. Rajan Zed stressed that cinema was a powerful medium and it could create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences, especially the younger ones, who were passing through an impressionable phase. We did not want our next generation to be growing up with a distorted view of religion. Zed argued that faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Filmmakers should be more sensitive and careful while handling faith related subjects. Movies like this brought more confusion and helped creating stereotypes in the minds of some audiences. Replying to the question of why Hindus were concerned while the movie deals with Roman Catholic Church, Rajan Zed said that despite our seriously different traditions, we were all fellow seekers of the Ultimate Reality and we were all headed in the same direction. So, we should help each other on our journey towards truth and have some sort of trust and mutual loyalty. Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and National Association of Theater Owners operate the movie ratings system and a board of parents who comprise CARA gives ratings. Founded in 1922, the MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington DC. Its Board includes Paramount, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal City Studios, Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Brothers. Dan Glickman is the Chairman. “Angels and Demons”; a Sony-Columbia-Imagine mystery based on Dan Brown’s novel and directed by Ron Howard with Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer; is being released in most of the world on May 13-14-15 next. Roman Catholic Church, headed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, is the largest of the Christian denominations. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. NDA to hold show of strength in Punjab SundayLUDHIANA - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to put up a big show of strength with its allies at a political rally to be held in this industrial city of Punjab Sunday (May 10). Over 120,000 weapons deposited in Punjab before pollsCHANDIGARH - Gun-crazy Punjab has seen over 120,000 licensed weapons being deposited by their owners with the police before the parliamentary elections - a five-times increase over the previous polls. Campaign in Ludhiana to motivate women to voteLUDHIANA - A women’s club in Ludhiana has initiated a door-to-door campaign to motivate women, especially housewives, to exercise their franchise during the general elections. Rohtang Pass re-opens for trafficSHIMLA - Rohtang Pass located at an altitude of 13,050 feet in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district has re-opened for vehicular traffic, officials said Sunday. The pass had been closed since mid-December due to heavy winter snowfall. Double prestige at stake for Sukhbir BadalBATHINDA - As the young head of a political party with mostly ageing leaders, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal has a lot at stake in this Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. Indian Kashmir quiet as separatists urge poll boycott, call for strike to protest electionsSRINAGAR, India — Thousands of security forces in riot gear patrolled the main city in India’s portion of Kashmir but no violence was reported Wednesday after separatists urged residents to boycott national elections and called for a general strike and demonstrations to protest the polls. Police in Ohio says armed man releases wife at retirement home but that he remains insideTOLEDO, Ohio — Police say a man has released his estranged wife after holding her at gunpoint for more than five hours at a Toledo retirement community. 31 in poll fray from Himachal PradeshSHIMLA - A total of 31 candidates have been left in the fray for the four parliamentary constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, a senior state poll official said here Monday. Filing of nominations for final phase of Lok Sabha elections ends todayNEW DELHI - Filing of nominations for the fifth and last phase of Lok Sabha elections comes to an end on Friday. 55 percent polling by noon in TripuraAGARTALA - Polling in Tripura has so far been peaceful with 55 per cent of the 20,82,205 voters casting their votes by noon in the single phase of polling in of the two Lok Sabha constituencies. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, CPI (M) rival file their nominationsKOLKATA - Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee filed her nomination for the South Kolkata parliamentary constituency on Wednesday. |