REGIONAL NEWS - Page 438

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence that Congress-led governments' performance at the Centre and in Andhra Pradesh would bring back the party again to power.

Polling has been suspended at a booth in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh constituency following reports of booth capturing by the supporters of a political party.

Around 15 per cent voting was recorded in the first hours of voting in 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly constituencies of Orissa where Maoists set ablaze three polling booths in Malkangiri district.

Moderate to brisk polling was reported on Thursday during the first hours from across Nagaland for election to the lone parliamentary seat.

Cong candidate Paban Singh Ghatowar,a former Union minister and a three-time MP,is contesting against the AGP's Sarbananda Sonowal.

About 15 per cent of a total of 9.02 lakh voters in outer Manipur parliamentary constituency exercised their franchise during first four hours on Thursday.

An estimated 10-12 per cent votes were polled in the first two hours of the polling in the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh.

Naxals attacked polling booths in Dantewada and Narainpur regions in Chhattisgarh,triggering IED blasts and exchanging fire with security forces as polling began in the state.

Congress announced its party candidate for Patliputra constituency of Bihar from where RJD chief Lalu Prasad is contesting.

Stepping up their attacks ahead of polls,Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing two persons,including a CRPF constable,while losing five of their cadres in the subsequent encounter with security personnel in Latehar district.

The two-day long operation in Pulwama ended with the killing of another militant of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit,a senior police officer said.

The Supreme Court on Monday favoured setting up of designated courts for the trial of the accused in the post-godhra riot cases in Gujarat.

Around ten Tibetan students stripped and locked themselves on the barbed wire fencing surrounding the Chinese embassy in Delhi.

MDMK leader Vaiko was booked by police on charges of speaking in support of banned LTTE and against the country's sovereignty and integrity.

The notification for election to the seven Lok Sabha seats and by-election to an Assembly seat in the national capital will be issued tomorrow,kicking-off the start of filing nominations.

A CRPF man was killed and 14 passengers were injured when Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) ultras opened fire at a running train.

A woman claiming to be Ajmal Kasab's mother came to the Mumbai Police headquarters last week seeking a meeting with him.

Centre has decided to withdraw its militant surrender policy in Assam and go after the Bangladesh based undergrounds groups after Lok Sabha elections.

The zoo officials are not only christening the cubs after studying their horoscope,they are now going to invite people to do that.

Subramanian Swamy criticised Vaiko's comments warning of a 'bloodbath in Tamil Nadu if anything happened to LTTE leader V Prabhakaran.'

There's an old joke in India's eastern state of Bihar: 'People don't cast their votes,they vote for their caste.'

The IIT Roorkee report apart,the J-K government has failed to implement its own comprehensive 256-page report that was submitted in the legislative assembly.

Police averted a major tragedy by detecting a powerful IED planted near a railway track in Anantnag district of Kashmir.