An organizer of the Movement for People’s Struggle, formed by JVP dissidents, and another individual are reportedly missing since yesterday. Their whereabouts are unknown since leaving to make arrangements for a press conference to be held in Jaffna today, National Organizer of the movement and DNA MP Ajith Kumara said. The organizer, Lalith Kumara Veeraraj, who had set out from Vavuniya yesterday in order to reserve a location for the press conference had arrived at the residence of Kugan Muruganandan in Awarangal, Jaffna. Both Veeraraj and Muruganandan had left the house on a motorbike at around 5pm, according to Muruganandan’s spouse. That was the last time they were seen, MP Ajith Kumara said adding that a complaint has been lodged with the Jaffna Police regarding the incident.

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Rejecting the Parliamentary Standing Committee's report on the Lokpal Bill as a betrayal of the people, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Saturday appealed to them to register their protest across the country by holding an anshan (daylong fast), as he would be observing here on Sunday.

The Congress has declined to participate in a ‘Maha-debate' at the venue of the fast, expressing its difficulty in outlining its views before examining the final draft of the Bill. Replying to the invitation extended to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said: “A debate at this stage outside Parliament might be premature.”

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Six owners of AMRI Hospital in south Kolkata's Dhakuria were arrested on Friday following the massive fire in which at least 88 people have been killed.

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A hybrid seed is a closed pollinated pure breed seed in which pollens from a single flower are not allowed to fertilize ovary of other flowers in effort to preserve the pure breed and ensure that the desired trait is passed on to the next generation seeds. The next generation of Monsanto’s seeds is sterile. Therefore, once Nepali farmers start using Monsanto’s “hybrid corn”, the farmers will lose control over their own seeds and will be obliged to purchase seeds from the company every year. Patent protection on seeds will undermine our food security by increasing dependency on corporations.

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