Pratapgarh, Apr. 22: Saying that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was just like a sister to him, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Sanjay Dutt has apologized Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for his "Jadu ki Jhappi" remarks.

In his reply to the district magistrate and district election officer on Tuesday, Dutt apologized for the remarks and said it was a mere dialogue from his Bollywood blockbuster Munnabhai series which were used in the rally to spread a message of love in society.

Wellington - Fiji military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama's declaration that his country does not need free and open discussion about current issues placed his government "outside the community of civilized peoples," New Zealand's Society of Authors said on Wednesday.

The society, which includes the writers' organization PEN New Zealand, issued a statement saying its members joined a wide range of other freedom of speech advocates throughout the world in deploring the "vicious repression of media" by Fiji's military government.

New Delhi - Maoist militants seized a passenger train in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand and took hundreds of passengers hostage Wednesday, one day before the second phase of India's month-long general elections.

The approximately 700 passengers on board the train were unhurt, the NDTV news channel reported, citing railway authorities.

Maoist fighters took over the train early Wednesday in Latehar district, they said.

New Delhi - Film stars are jumping on the political bandwagon this election season, not only running campaigns or contesting polls but even floating their own parties and turning into power players in determining India's next government.

Film actors are demigods to millions of people in the world's largest democracy, which also boasts the world's biggest film industry. Their popularity is particularly felt in South India, where huge cut-outs of their images adorn intersections and fans perform rituals and prayers at temples dedicated to them.

Brussels - Five years after its biggest-ever enlargement, the European Union is still struggling to accept that it really is one union, not two separate blocs called "old" and "new."

Talk of "old Europe" and "new Europe" is "very much a common use: it's very easy and everybody knows who you mean by it, so I think it will stick with us for a while," Maros Sefcovic, Slovakia's EU ambassador since enlargement, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Pilibhit, Apr 22: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi will file his nomination papers from Pilibhit today.

Varun, who is on a two-week parole after being jailed under the National Securities Act (NSA) for his alleged hate speech, will be accompanied by his mother Maneka Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday turned down the request made by Varun for transfer of Pilibhit District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police.

The EC also rejected Varun's appeal to appoint neutral observers in his constituency.