Mufti govt joins Amarnath row

Jammu (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir High Court has directed the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government to file within a week objections regarding a writ petition against the administration’s order curtailing the duration of the Amarnath yatra to one month.

The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board had earlier decided that the yatra would last two months. But the government has said the yatra would take place between July 29 and August 31.

The petitioners, the Shri Baba Amarnath Yatri Nyas and the Sanatan Dharam Sabha, said these organisations would provide all services, including free food, for sadhus and other pilgrims proceeding for Amarnath from the parade ground in Jammu.

Additional advocate-general Anil Sethi sought time for filing objections along with senior advocate U.K. Jalali.

Justice Nargotra said as the counsel for the respondents had agreed to file objections before the next date of hearing considering the urgency, they may do so. He fixed the next hearing on June 28 along with a fresh petition.

Strict visa rules for Canada

New Delhi (PTI): People applying for visas to Canada will have to follow new rules which prescribe that if they pay a representative to act on their behalf, such a “paid representative” should be “authorised” by one of the three organisations listed by the Canadian government.

The new rules are effective from April 13, 2004. Applications made after this date must meet the new rules, failing which these will be sent back for amendments.

The “paid representative”, who generally helps on immigration matters, must be “an immigration consultant who is a member in good standing of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants”, a Canadian high commission release said on Wednesday.

The representatives can also be “lawyers who are members in good standing of a Canadian law society and students-at-law under their supervision”, it said.

Notaries who are members of the Chambre Des Notaires Du Quebec and students-at-law under their supervision also qualify to be the “paid representative”, the high commission said.

It specified that if an application or proceeding was under way on April 13, 2004, the individual may continue to use the services of his or her “paid representative” until April 13, 2008.

CBI to take Telgi to Pune

New Delhi (PTI): A court has directed the CBI to take Abdul Karim Telgi, kingpin of the fake stamp paper scam, back to Pune. The agency brought him here from Yerwada jail in Pune a fortnight ago.

Duty metropolitan magistrate S.K. Sharma asked the CBI to produce Telgi before a special court in Pune on June 25. Telgi was also remanded in judicial custody till July 7.

Urs tension

Jaipur (PTI): Tension gripped communally sensitive Asind town in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district, leading to deployment of security forces on Wednesday after the Bardiya Dargah Committee refused to organise Bardiya Urs. It was cancelled following failure of talks to allocate the approach road to the mazar through the Sawai Bhoj temple.

Man kills self

Akola (PTI): Unable to fulfil duties towards his family, a 40-year-old man jumped in front of a train near Barshi Takli railway gate, about 15 km from here. Maroti Kawre, a former sarpanch, wrote a letter to his nine-year-old son, saying he did nothing for the family and asked his sister-in-law to help them.

Rao discharge

New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao is likely to be discharged in the next two or three days, officiating medical superintendent of AIIMS Dr D.K. Sharma said on Wednesday. Rao, a chronic heart patient, was admitted to the hospital with loss of appetite on June 16.

Yash Johar critical

Mumbai (PTI): The con-dition of film producer Yash Johar, who is undergoing treatment in Leelavati Hospital, remained critical on Wednesday, said sources. He has been on life support system since Sunday evening.

Juveniles escape

Bareilly (PTI): Nine juvenile prisoners have escaped from a jail, official sources said. Brandishing knives, the prisoners threatened the staff and fled after breaking open the prison doors. Most of them were from Pilibhit and Shajahanpur districts.

A 3,500 sq. ft, six-classroom block in Chennai’s Presidency Girls’ School was inaugurated by the Netherlands ambassador, E.F.C. Niehe, on Wednesday. Set up under the ‘freedom through education’ project, the block will boost primary education in India.