HYDERABAD: In an attempt to divide the polity on communal lines and garner the support of Muslim community for the creation of a separate state of Telangana, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao promised reservation to minorities in education and employment on the lines of Tamil Nadu.

Addressing “Telangana Garjana” organised by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at Nizam College grounds, KCR promised proportional reservation to the community in education and jobs. “After the formation of Telangana, a law will be enacted to provide 12 per cent reservation to the community under special provisions in the Constitution,” KCR said.

Promising the moon, KCR assured that justice would be done in the new state of Telangana. “Injustice has been meted out to the community in higher education and employment,” he said and assured proportional representation to minorities in assembly and local bodies as well.

Seeking to dispel the notion that large section of the community were against dividing the state, he claimed that Sunday’s meeting attended by over 10,000 would send a message to the Centre they were in ‘favour’ of Telangana.

TDP leader N Janardhan Reddy said the five-member Srikrishna Committee constituted by Centre to look into the statehood issue should have a time-frame. He claimed that TDP was the first political party in the state which recognised Urdu as second language and implemented many welfare schemes for minorities.

Welcoming Jamaat’s initiative, JAC convener M Kodandaram said the Centre should announce the terms of reference for the Srikrishna Committee.

Congress MP Madhu Yashki called on leaders to set aside their differences for Telangana. He took strong exception to the statement made by Congress leader legislative council deputy chief Mohd Jani that the community wanted a united AP.

Chandigarh: Former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, convicted in the Ruchika molestation case, was today attacked and injured when a student of the prestigious NID posing as a journalist stabbed him thrice in the face with a pocket knife outside a local court

The condition of 68-year-old Rathore, who had gone to the court in the morning in connection with hearing of his appeal against the six-month sentence imposed on him, was stated to be stable.

The shaken former top cop came back to the court with a walking stick for post-lunch proceedings with bandage on his right cheek amid tight security. The assailant is said to have a psychological problem suffering from "mood disorder syndrome".

The assailant identified as 29-year-old Utsav Sharma, a resident of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and pursuing a post-graduate diploma course in animation and film design at the National Institute of Design(NID) in Ahmedabad, has been arrested by the police and was being grilled.

As Rathore stepped out of the district court complex after the morning proceedings and was barely 15 feet away from his waiting car, the assailant who was standing among mediapersons waiting for an interaction lunged forward, caught him by the neck and in a split second stabbed him thrice on his right cheek with a sharp-edged pocket knife.

Rathore was also punched on his face by the youth who posed as a freelance journalist. The assailant had a still camera with him and pretended to take pictures of the approaching former cop, A bleeding Rathore covered the wound on his face with a handkerchief while an escorting policeman pinned the youth down to the ground just near the ex-cop's car when he tried to run in the midst of a commotion. The assailant also attempted to attack Rathore on the arm. "He appears to be pyschologically imbalanced. We are trying to ascertain the motive behind his action," Chandigarh's SSP S S Srivastava told PTI. Rathore was rushed to Sector 16 Government General Hospital for treatment while the youth was taken to the nearby Sector 17 police station

Srivastava said Utsav came from a good family background. Both his mother and father are professors, he said. Utsav's father prof SK Sharma said his son was a brilliant student and one has to find out what is in his mind. "He should not have done that. He should not take law in his own hands," he said. He said prior to this he had done a course in Bachelor of Fine Arts.

"We have also got some identity cards from him. Further investigations were on," he said, adding the accused had told the police that the sharp knife used in the crime was procured by him from Delhi. Ruchika Girhotra's family lawyer, Pankaj Bhardwaj termed the attack on Rathore as "unfortunate". Aradhana, the sole eye witness to Ruchika Girhotra’s molestation, strongly condemned the attack and asked people to desist from taking law into their hands.

After attending the court proceedings following the attack on him, Rathore again went to the hospital here where he had earlier gone for first aid after the incident. Security had been beefed up at the hospital. One of Rathore's lawyer, ND Sharma had also received some injuries as the attacker pounced on the former DGP. After coming out from the Court premises in the post-lunch session, Rathore did not talk to the waiting mediapersons.

Using a walking stick, Rathore was looking calm and composed despite the attack as he walked out from the court room located on the third floor and later walked a few steps to get into his car.

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena softening its stand against actor Shah Rukh Khan has raised eyebrows among political observers. They wonder if it is a result of the party being frustrated after its poor showing during Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s visit, or whether it is a tactical move to offer a hand of friendship to its arch rival, the MNS

A day after Gandhi’s visit to the city on Friday, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said, “We have not taken a contract to exhibit patriotism. Why are the other parties not opposing the Australians players or Shah Rukh Khan?” Thackeray had made a similar statement two years ago before toning down opposition to Pakistani players in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

A political observer believes that Thackeray is creating an atmosphere to woo the MNS. “Uddhav’s statement carries a masked appeal to the MNS to join the Sena in opposing Rahul Gandhi, Shah Rukh and the Australian players. MNS chief Raj Thackeray has appealed to political parties to come together on the issue of Marathi pride. We can say the process of seriously mulling coming together has started in the two parties,” he said. The Sena and the MNS are peeved with Rahul’s statement that north Indian commandos saved Mumbai on 26/11.

A MNS source said the party too is in favour of opposing both Gandhi and Khan for their statements. “We were ready to take to the streets during Rahul’s visit. All preparations had been made and we were waiting for an order by Rajsaheb. But he chose to stay away,” he said.

Observers believe that the MNS did not get involved in Gandhi’s visit because Raj wanted to show the Sena that it cannot walk the path alone over the issue.

New Delhi: With his eighteenth Test century on the third day of the first Test against South Africa in Nagpur, Virender Sehwag equalled Mohammad Azharuddin's record of scoring four Test centuries against the Proteas. Sehwag, who made his Test debut against South Africa in 2001, has been a prolific scorer against this opposition.

105 on debut, Bloemfontein, 2001 — Coming in with India in serious trouble at 68-4 in the first innings, Sehwag joined Sachin Tendulkar in the crease. Tendulkar was in murderous mood, but Sehwag matched his mentor shot for shot, carving 19 boundaries en route his maiden Test hundred. India ended up losing the first Test, before the series turned fractious following bans on several Indian players in the following Test.

164, Kanpur, 2004 — South Africa's first team never looked so new for years, but a featherbed in Kanpur allowed them to score 500-plus. India, in reply, were no less as Sehwag and Gambhir put on more than 200 runs for the opening wicket. Gambhir missed out on a century by four runs, but Sehwag's stunning run of form continued. Since his 195 at Melbourne, Sehwag hadn't stopped below 150 in the centuries he scored. He ended up with 164.

319, Chennai, 2008 — What Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla enabled South Africa to reach in their first innings, Sehwag managed to do so alone, in half the time. Sehwag blazed to the fastest triple century ever, and his second.

109, Nagpur, 2010 — In the opening Test of the current series, South Africa piled up 558 before India took the field and found themselves in early trouble. But Sehwag brought India back with an uncharacteristic knock. Sehwag was patient in shot selection and brought up his hundred in testing circumstances.