Nagpur (PTI): Members of the Maharashtra assembly on Monday recited the full version of 'Vande Mataram' on the opening day of the legislature's winter session here, marking the 150th anniversary of the national song.
The House proceedings began with the customary recital of the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram, followed by 'Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha', the official state song.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar said, "It is a tradition of the legislature to recite the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram on the first day of every session. However, as this year marks 150 years since its composition, the House will recite the entire song."
The legislators then recited the full song.
Notably, the Lok Sabha has listed 'Discussion on the 150th anniversary of national song Vande Mataram' on Monday and allocated 10 hours for the debate.
The debate in Parliament is part of the year-long celebrations on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, a poem written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and set to tune by Jadunath Bhattacharya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hit out at the Congress, accusing it of removing key stanzas from the song in 1937 and sowing the seeds of partition.
On November 7, Modi launched year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th year of Vande Mataram, aimed especially at youth and students to deepen awareness of the song's significance.
During the assembly session, Narwekar also announced the names Chainsukh Sancheti, Kishor Patil, Rahul Patil, Uttamrao Jankar, Ramdas Masram, Sameer Kunawar and Saroj Ahire as presiding officers. They will chair proceedings in the speaker's absence.
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Kochi (PTI): Malayalam actor Dileep on Monday accused some police officials and a section of media of hatching a "conspiring against him" to implicate him in a case relating to the sexual assault of a south Indian actress here in 2017 with an aim to destroy his career.
Shortly after he was acquitted in the case, Dileep alleged there was a "real conspiracy" to make him an accused in the case.
"It was done to destroy my career, image, and life in society," he told reporters soon after a local court acquitted him after a years-long legal battle.
Criticising his ex-wife and leading actress Manju Warrier, the 'Meeshamadhavan' actor said the entire conspiracy against him began with her statement that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the assault of the survivor and that should be probed.
ALSO READ: Kerala court acquits actor Dileep in 2017 actress assault case, six found guilty
Without naming anyone, he alleged a top woman police officer and a group of "criminal police" chosen by her to probe the case had acted against him.
Dileep accused them of fabricating a false story against him with the support of the prime accused in the case and his co-inmate in the jail. Those police personnel and a section of media had propagated the false story against him through social media platforms, he further claimed.
"Today, that false narrative, fabricated by the police was shattered in the court," the actor-producer added.
He thanked his family, lawyers, and fans who supported him throughout these years of legal battle.
The Ernakulam Principal Sessions on Monday acquitted Dileep in the sensational case.
The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.
Apart from Dileep, the court acquitted three others in the case.
The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.
The assault on the multi-lingual actress after the miscreants forced their way into the car she was travelling in and kept it under their control for two hours, had shaken the conscience of the Kerala society.
According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.
Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.
During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Sunil, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.
