US man loses cell phone in grain pit, gets it back from Japan

"I thought I'd never see that phone again," he said.

The cell phone journeyed by truck to another grain site in Inola, Oklahoma, then it went down the Arkansas River. Thereafter it reached Convent, Louisiana. From there, it sailed by ship to Kashima, Japan.
  
Despite being mixed into two million bushels of grain sorghum, a grain mill worker in Japan found the cell phone.

The phone was then mailed back to Convent. And a few days ago, Whitney got a call from Louisiana asking whether he lost a cell phone.

The man had scrolled down Whitney's contact list to discover who owned the phone. "It's crazy, I can't believe it. I was really shocked thinking what a small world it is. There are a lot of meaningful pictures on it so we are glad to get the phone back," said Whitney.

Read more Latest News from Lifestyle News

Faulkner to lead Australia A for 4-day series against India A

Faulkner, who has been a part of IPL in 2011 (Pune Warriors), 2012 (Kings XI Punjab) and 2013 (Rajasthan Royals), has stood in 19 ODIs for the Aussies and played a single Test.
   
CA chairman of selectors Rodney Marsh expects Faulkner, 24, to perform well. "James is a young man with plenty of character and possesses a great desire to win," Marsh said.
   
"He is still developing as an all-rounder but we believe this captaincy provides him an opportunity to do that as well as develop his leadership skills," he said.
   
Meanwhile, middle-order batsman Cameron White will lead the one-day squad in a quadrangular series post the two unofficial Tests. Marsh believes White's huge experience in limited-overs cricket will benefit the ODI team.
   
"Cameron White has been selected as captain of the one-day team for the quad series in Darwin. Cam White is a very good captain with loads of experience and will set a fine leadership example to the younger players," Marsh said.
   
Some known Australian players including Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Chris Lynn and Mitchell Marsh are part of both the sides.

Australia A take on India A in two four-day matches from July 6-17 in Brisbane, then move to Darwin for the one-day series from July 19 - August 2 before concluding with two four-day matches against South Africa A in Townsville from August 7-17.
   
Squad:
   
Cameron Boyce, Ben Cutting, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner (c), Peter Forrest, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Sam Whiteman.

Read more Latest News from Cricket News

Congress to field Captain Amarinder Singh against Jaitley from Amritsar

Amarinder, however, said that a local candidate of the party would be able to do more justice to the constituency.

"I will also not be able to spend required period of time there,” he said.

Amarinder said even if he contested and was elected as an MP from Amritsar he will not be able to do justice with the people there as compared to a local.

"I would not be able to do justice with the people of Amritsar as their MP for multiple reasons, besides not being able to contest from there at the first instance," he said.

Amarinder said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had offered him to contest from Bathinda or Amritsar when he had met her about three weeks ago.

Amarinder said he had clarified at that time itself that he will not be in a position to contest since his wife Parneet Kaur was contesting from Patiala.

He added that his presence was required across the state and contesting from Amritsar would simply confine him to one single constituency.

The former chief minister maintained that the Congress had strong, powerful and quite influential leaders in Amritsar who can successfully take on the Akali-BJP candidate there.

"Amritsar is a strong Congress bastion and the party has won the seat several times and during the last time the seat was declared in favour of the BJP candidate by fraud and deceit," he added.

Arguing that the party must field a local candidate who is well versed with the local issues and problems, Amarinder said “The people of Amritsar are already fatigued and frustrated because of an absentee MP and they will not like to replace one absentee MP with the other.”

"While the previous one was still visible once in a while, the present one (Arun Jaitley) if elected, will never ever be seen around given his interests and commitments in Delhi," he pointed out.

(JPN/Agencies)

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ICC-appointed adjudicator clears Haroon Lorgat of BCCI-related charge

David Becker, who was the ICC legal adviser throughout Lorgat's tenure as CEO of the world body, had last year issued a statement suggesting that the BCCI's flouting of the FTP could have legal implications and that it was "improper" to allow a member body to "blatantly disregard an ICC resolution".
    
In his October 2013 statement, Becker, also a former legal adviser of Cricket South Africa, had said that he had resigned from his ICC post because of what he considered "questionable governance" at the ICC and listed three examples, all relating to the "dominance of BCCI President N Srinivasan".
    
Lorgat was accused by the BCCI of having the knowledge of Becker's statement and, in fact, of its preparation, prompting the ICC to commission an inquiry into his role in that statement.
    
The controversy had also threatened to derail India's tour of South Africa December last. BCCI had agreed to a shortened tour only after the CSA agreed to bar Lorgat from dealing with matters related to India and from attending ICC Executive Meetings as CSA representative.
    
The adjudicator, in a joint statement issued by the ICC and CSA, said that there was "no evidence to support the allegations made against Lorgat".
    
As a result, any restrictions on Lorgat's ability to act as CSA chief executive were removed. He can now resume acting as CSA's representative on the ICC Chief Executive's Committee and deal with affairs involving the BCCI.
    
"An independent Adjudicator, appointed by the ICC to look into the content and distribution of media comments made about ICC Board by David Becker, who at that time was acting as a legal consultant to CSA in respect of their ongoing dispute over FTP Schedule, and the subsequent attempts to have them withdrawn, and, in particular, role of Haroon Lorgat, CEO of CSA, in these matters has found no evidence to support the allegations made against Lorgat," the statement said.

(Agencies)

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Kejriwal to commute by auto, train in Mumbai

After landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Kejriwal will catch an auto-rickshaw to go to Andheri station. There, the former Delhi chief minister will take a suburban train to Churchgate and interact with commuters on board during the 40-minute ride.

Around noon, he will be at Churchgate for a formal welcome by Mumbai South Lok Sabha candidate Meera Sanyal and other party workers.

After a media conference, Kejriwal will take part in a two-hour road show from the historic August Kranti Maidan to Khilafat House, an equally historic venue. These areas fall in Mumbai South constituency from where the Sanyal, a former corporate chief, is contesting as an Aam Aadmi Party canndidate.

Later, Kejriwal will proceed via the Eastern Freeway to take part in another road show in the eastern suburbs in the Mumbai North-East constituency where social activist Medha Patkar is the AAP candidate.

(Agencies)

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Fresh snowfall in Kashmir Valley

The residents of the Valley woke up to a white cover of snow which had enveloped the landscape.  

Nearly three inches of snow had accumulated in Srinagar city while more than one-and-a-half foot was recorded in Gulmarg tourist resort and several other parts of north Kashmir.

  

In Pahalgam resort, one foot of snow had been recorded till 8.30 AM, officials said.

   

The snowfall was preceded by heavy rainfall in most parts of the Valley last evening with Srinagar recording 46.3 mm of rainfall.

  

Divisional Administration of Kashmir announced that schools up to standard VIII will be closed for two days due to a dip in temperature caused by the downpour, an official spokesman said.

  

Schools in the Valley had reopened on March 3 after three months of winter vacation.

  

The downpour has led to water-logging of all major roads around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and surrounding areas.

   

Traffic was moving at a snail's pace while pedestrians were facing difficulty in moving around due to puddles on the roads.

(Agencies)

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Ahmedabad Police to get Rs 25 crore for modernization

"The Central Government has selected 12 cities for megacity modernization project. Being one of the megacities, Ahmedabad will also get fund to procure latest tools and technology for city police. The funding is done by both Centre and state, based on a ratio such as 50:50 or 60:40," Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) Manoj Agrawal said.
  
“Policing in a megacity is completely different from smaller cities and rural areas,” he said.

"A megacity like Ahmedabad requires different type of policing to handle crimes. Thus, a separate fund is created to cater to the growing need to equip police department of a megacity," the JCP said.
  
"Using the fund, we will set up a state-of-the-art control room, install CCTV cameras as well as Global Positioning System (GPS) on vehicles," he said.
  
To discuss the needs of Ahmedabad Police, a joint meeting of state police officials and Union Home Ministry was held in New Delhi on December 20, 2013.
  
"After the discussion, a project of Rs 25 crore has been finalized. 60 percent of funding will be given by the Centre, while the state will bear 40 percent of the project cost," said a senior IPS official on condition of anonymity.

The project is divided into three different sub-projects, another senior police official said.

In the first 'cyber highway' sub-project, a dedicated fibre optic network will be laid at a cost of Rs 10 crore exclusively for police department to exchange data with control room.

The second sub-project includes installation of CCTV cameras at all the entry and exit points of the city to keep a watch on criminals, the official said.
  
The third sub-project involves integration of several tools, called as C4-I. It stands for Command, Control, Communication, Co-ordination-Integration, he said.
  
"We will integrate all our high-tech hardware and software under this initiative. It includes installation of command and control systems, GPS, CCTV, auto vehicle locator software, video streaming devices and call locator devices," the official said.

(Agencies)

 

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Raj Thackeray plans to stitch alliance with regional satraps in Maharashtra

As Maharashtra’s assembly election is slated in October this year, Raj wants to make his own third front with the help of state satraps with an aim to hurt political prospects of NDA and UPA as well.

The MNS chief has already completed first round of talks with his counterpart of the Peasants' and Workers' Party (PWP), which has a strong presence in the coastal region of Konkan and has four MLAs in the Maharashtra assembly.

He has also cosied up with Jan Surajya Party (JSP), which has a good influence in various parts of Western Maharashtra having two MLAs, and a member of legislative council in Nasik, Apoorva Hiray.

These small parties are not in a position to field candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, but if they offer support to MNS’ candidates then it could be a hammer-blow to the prospects of both UPA and NDA.

Raj is likely to declare the names of few Lok Sabha candidates from his party on March 9 at the foundation day of MNS.  All these MNS candidates would be those who had garnered more than 1.25 lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

If the MNS succeeds in its mission, it will prove big hurdle for national parties in the assembly elections.

In the 2009 Assembly elections, MNS had fought on 143 out of 288 seats in Maharashtra, winning 13 seats and was successful in stopping BJP-Shiv Sena coalition to form government.

(JPN/Bureau)

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Rains lash Haryana, Punjab

Rains also lashed many places in Haryana including Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Hisar, the NCR areas of Sonepat, Gurgaon and Faridabad, MeT office here said.
   
In Punjab, Mohali, Amritsar, Patiala and Ropar were among other places which were lashed by rains.

A MeT official said that the change in weather was due to a Western Disturbance, which hovered over J-K and neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the minimum temperatures settled in the range of 13-16 degrees Celsius at most places in Haryana and Punjab on Monday, which were above normal by up to four notches.

Weathermen have warned that hailstorm/thunder squalls with wind speed exceeding 45 kmph may occur at isolated places in the two states within next 24-hours.

(Agencies)

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Kiran Reddy may float new party today

A day after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule, Kiran Reddy met his supporters here to take a final call on his plans. According to leaders close to him, an announcement is likely in the evening.

After resigning as the chief minister and also from the Congress party last month to protest bifurcation of the state, Kiran Reddy held series of meetings with his loyalists to chalk out plans to form a new party.

Kiran has the support of six MPs who were expelled from the Congress party last month, and also some of his former state cabinet colleagues from Seemandhra.

The former chief minister believes that a new party would get people's support in Seemandhra as they feel the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress all joined hands to split the state.

Earlier, there were speculations that Kiran Reddy dropped the plans to form a new party on the platform of united Andhra Pradesh as not many former ministers and legislators were ready to sail with him.

Three former ministers who were considered his supporters have already joined the TDP.

Kiran Reddy, the last chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, resigned on February 19 to protest passage of the bill in parliament for formation of a separate Telangana state.

He had defied the Congress over its decision to bifurcate the state and accused the party of resorting to unconstitutional and undemocratic measures to divide Telugu-speaking people.

(Agencies)

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AIADMK fields VNP Venkatraman for Alandur constituency

The by-poll was necessitated following the resignation of DMDK MLA Panrutty S Ramachandran, who had quit the Vijayakant-led party before joining AIADMK recently.

The Election Commission had announced yesterday that the bypoll would be held to the Alandur constituency along with the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu on April 24.

AIADMK has 150 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.

(Agencies)

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Moon Moon Sen hopes to change lives of people with Mamata’s support

The former Bollywood heroine on Wednesday said that she would be able to share the ‘joys, pains and sufferings’ of the common people ‘more intimately’ in her new role.

"Well. Actually I have done lot of films and ‘jatras’ (folk theatres) in that part (Bankura) of the state. I have travelled a lot," she said while reacting to her nomination.

Moon Moon Sen, the daughter of veteran Bengali actress Suchitra Sen, said, “People have clapped, appreciated my performances. But it is true that it is a new life. I will be eager to know more intimately about people's joy's, sorrows, pains. If people are with me, I hope to do my lot in my small way to change their lives."

Sen said she was banking on Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has picked her for the seat.

"It would be great if Mamatadi campaigns for me. Also I am lucky to have a husband who is very much aware of current events. I hope to get his help,” she said.

Sen, who has acted in over 60 Bengali, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada films, besides performing in 40 television series, said she was yet to think how she will go about her new job.

"I have not given a thought to it so far. We all want to support her (Banerjee). Let's see how it all goes," she added.

(JPN/Agencies)

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Goa Congress demands removal of state election officer

The party has also demanded that Goa Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on April 17, should be postponed since it is ‘Maundy Thursday - a holy day observed by the Catholic community.

  

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president John Fernandes said that state joint chief electoral officer Narayan Navti was ‘often seen on BJP dais’.

  

He has been sharing dais with BJP candidate Narendra Sawaikar (from South Goa Lok Sabha seat), Fernandes claimed.

  

The Election Commission of India should immediately remove him from the post for free and fair Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leader demanded.

  

The party would be writing to the Election Commission of India pressing for his removal immediately, he said.

  

He also noted that the Election Commission of India’s decision to hold elections in Goa on April 17 was dependent on the advice by its local officer.

  

"The ECI should investigate the conduct of the officer," Fernandes added.

(Agencies)

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Shivraj Singh Chouhan observes fast against Central 'apathy' to farmers woes

The four-hour fast was part of the statewide bandh call till 2 pm, given by the BJP in protest against Centre's "indifferent" attitude towards farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorm in parts of the state recently.

Chouhan appealed to Centre to provide a special package of Rs 5,000 crore for Madhya Pradesh to deal with the crisis. "Our entire Cabinet would go to Delhi to apprise the Union government about the current situation," the Chief Minister said in his address.

   

"We have already earmarked Rs 2000 crore for providing relief to farmers and this is just the beginning...We will take all possible measures to provide aid to affected farmers," Chouhan said, adding that various organizations and people have donated Rs 7.42 crore for the cause of farmers during the sit-in protest held at a ground near New Market are.

   

Chouhan said even as the Centre cold-shouldered farmers, people of Madhya Pradesh stood behind them in the hour of crisis.

   

On the occasion, he demanded to constitute a permanent National Disaster Relief Fund to deal with such crises and also appealed to people to donate generously in the Chief Minister's disaster relief fund.

Chouhan also hit out at opposition Congress for describing his visit to the affected villages as "Ola paryatan" (hail tourism) and alleged that Congress leaders were insensitive towards the plight of farmers.

   

He also asked Centre to "rationalize" the current crop insurance scheme by making it more practical so that farmers get actual damage caused to their crop.

Chouhan also criticized Centre for not providing any relief to the loss caused to soybean crops, not purchasing gram crop on minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3100 per quintal and also not recognizing Madhya Pradesh as basmati rice producing region.

Chouhan alleged the Centre was doing so at the behest of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and also because of Pakistan's opposition to the move.

   

"APEDA has joined hands with Pakistan for doing injustice to the farmers of Madhya Pradesh," he alleged.

Cabinet Ministers including Kailash Vijaywargiya, Jayant Mallaiya, Uma Shankar Gupta and Babulal Gaur also observed fast.

   

Meanwhile, the state unit media incharge of BJP, Hitesh Bajpai claimed the shutdown as totally successful and peaceful in the entire state.

   

On Wednesday, state unit BJP chief Narendra Singh Tomar had said, "When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no time to meet the MP Chief Minister during his last visit to Delhi on the issue of farmers despite the fact that he was present in the national capital, the BJP is left with no option except to resort to protest."

(Agencies)

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Two-phase polls in undivided Andhra Pradesh

As the separate Telangana and residual state of Andhra Pradesh are to come into existence from June 2nd, the Election Commission has also decided to conduct the Assembly elections in the undivided state.

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said that the commission will conduct the elections as per the description of the state as of Wednesday.

Elections to 42 Lok Sabha seats and the 294-member assembly will be held in two phases - April 30th and May 7th.

In the first phase, Telangana will go to polls while voting in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra (Seemandhra) will be held on May 7th.

Telangana has 17 Lok Sabha and 119 Assembly constituencies, while Seemandhra has 25 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 175 Assembly segments.

"Whoever is elected MLA as per the law will automatically become member of the concerned state," Sampath said.

According to the state chief electoral officer, 6.24 crore voters are expected to exercise their right to franchise in the elections compared to 5.78 crore voters in 2009 - an increase of about 46 lakh.

The bill for formation of Telangana as India's 29th state was passed by Parliament on February 20th.

President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the bill on March 1st and on the same day the government issued a notification but did not mention the formation day of the two states.

The union home ministry on Tuesday set on June 2nd as the formation day for the two states.

The centre last week brought Andhra Pradesh under President's rule and kept the assembly under suspended animation following the resignation of Kiran Kumar Reddy as the Chief Minister protesting against the bifurcation.

The term of the state assembly ends on June 2nd.

(Agencies)

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Odisha doesn't have special disadvantage to get special status: Montek

"Special category status is accorded to a state under very special circumstances and Odisha doesn’t have any special disadvantage to get such status," Ahluwalia said at a question-answer session after delivering a memorial lecture at Ravenshaw University in Cuttack on Tuesday.

    

"Within the existing framework in the state, Odisha can achieve phenomenal growth rate," he said, adding that there were many other windows available for the state to get more money from the Centre.

    

"The special category status is never meant for a state because it has low income," he said, adding that NDC, which decides on it has received demands from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar along with Odisha for this category.     

“But recently, the same was accorded to a bifurcated state of Andhra Pradesh because it was deprived of its capital Hyderabad along with lots of resources,” Ahluwalia said.     

“Odisha is economically doing better now and the demand for special category status is ‘politically biased’,” he said.

(Agencies)

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Congress wins two tribal autonomous councils in Meghalaya

Congress, which contested in all 58 seats, has won 10 out of 29 seats in Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council closely followed by Hills State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) which won seven seats and the United Democratic Party (UDP) which won six seats.

  

Khun Hynniewtrep Awakening Movement (KHNAM) won four seats while the Nationalist Party (NCP) managed to pull one back with one Independent.

  

District Council Affairs Minister HDR Lyngdoh, Deputy Speaker Sanbor Shullai and the two outgoing chief executive members - Pynshngainlang N Syiem and Madonbai Rymbai - retained their seats from Mawsynram constituency and Sohmynting - Khliehtyrshi constituency respectively along with three other sitting legislators retained their seats.

  

Sitting UDP legislators Remington Pyngrope and Titosstarwell Chyne lost to Congress candidates Banteidor Lyngdoh and Donevan Wahlang...

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Assam CM Gogoi distributes land deeds to city dwellers

The Chief Minister said the process for distribution of land patta (land deed) to those who have occupied government land for 10 years and above has started in right earnest.

   

"We have started the process of distribution of patta from today and it would be completed in due course of time," he said.

       

He said it was unfortunate that some sections had been trying to put hurdles on the way of allotting patta.

"Everything has been carried out in consultation with Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity leader Akhil Gogoi," the Chief Minister said.

       

"They can demand that the process be expedited and raise other issues. We would listen to them. But why they should put a spanner in the process of distribution of land patta, which they have been demanding since long," he added.

       

Gogoi, however, asserted the government would not allow encroachment on forests land and wetlands at any cost.

“The destruction of forests has led to flash floods resulting in heavy erosion rendering many homeless and affecting lakhs of acres of agricultural land due to siltation,” Gogoi said.

"The encroachment on wetlands will also lead to an alarming situation and may result in drinking water scarcity, health and other problems. We cannot allow things to drift to a point of no return," he added.

       

The Chief Minister said in granting land patta the preference would be given to those living below the poverty-line, homeless and landless people.

       

The first recipient of land patta was Purnima Saikia, mother of Deepamoni Saikia who had died in a bomb blast in Guwahati in October 2008.

       

Hitting out at Akhil Gogoi for creating a situation by resorting to agitation on the day of distribution of land deeds, Revenue Minister Prithivi Majhi said, “It was clearly spelt out to him in course of a meeting with the Chief Minister on December 9 last year that the entire process of allotting land patta to around 70,000 to 75,000 dwellers living in hills and plains of Guwahati would take at least three years and not six months as demanded by him."

"It was agreed upon to start the process of issuing land patta. And now he has taken a U-turn and creating an uncalled for situation," Majhi claimed.

   

Pranab Boro set himself on fire in front of the Secretariat here on Monday morning and succumbed to his wounds in the GMC Hospital later in the day triggering protest across the state.

(Agencies)

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Mizo Students Union demonstrates in front of Raj Bhavan

MSU leaders said that the protest is against the Centre which failed to protect the Mizos and other people from the North-East.
    

"Police officials in Delhi refused to register a case about the incident even after an FIR was submitted," the MSU statement said.
  
Meanwhile, the North East Students Organization (NESO) would be organizing a protest on Friday when the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or the Mizo students association would also submit a memorandum to the President and the Prime Minister through the state governor Vakkom Purushothaman, it said.
  
The teen who hails from Mizoram was living in Delhi since the last six months while her parents are settled in Manipur.
  
She was allegedly raped by her landlord's son, Ashish alias Vicky, in Munirka area, which sparked off protests in the national capital, days after the death of another youth from the North-East in an alleged racist attack.

(Agencies)

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Delhi needs Lokayukta through collaborative approach: Kiran Bedi

"Country already has a useful Lokpal Act! Delhi only needs an amended Lokayukta! Which is possible if the approach is collaborative!" Bedi, a member of Team Anna, tweeted.

Bedi, who had even observed fast along with Gandhian activist Anna Hazare for the Lokpal Act, has been critical of the Jan Lokpal Bill, which the Delhi government wants to get passed in the assembly.

Two days back, she had said that the Jan Lokpal Bill should have been circulated to all concerned stake holders.

"No one knows contents of proposed Lokayukta! Why no prior consultations/consensus building before finalizing it? Why not on the website too?" Bedi had tweeted.

(Agencies)

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