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UP project to deal with calamities BAREILLY, Aug 21 The Uttar Pradesh Government would soon launch a World Bank-assisted Rs 350 crore project to deal with natural calamities in the hill region of the state where landslides have killed more than 300 persons so far. SC gives nod to try Jaya NEW DELHI, Aug 21 The Supreme Court today directed a Chennai special court to go ahead with proceedings against AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha in a case of defrauding the Tamil Nadu government by purchasing Tansi land at a throwaway price. |
Act mature, Swamy tells Mahajan CHENNAI, Aug 21 Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today asked BJP leader Pramod Mahajan to be "courageous and mature" enough to request the Prime Minister to order a CBI probe into AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithas allegation that hefty bribes been received for the transfer of Enforcement Director M.K. Bezbaruah to clear his name rather than threatening to sue her.
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Rs 14,000 crore Prasar
Bharati scam surfaces Constable
gets one-year RI for taking Rs 20 |
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UP project to deal with calamities BAREILLY, Aug 21 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Government would soon launch a World Bank-assisted Rs 350 crore project to deal with natural calamities in the hill region of the state where landslides have killed more than 300 persons so far and caused massive destruction in the area. "We have planned two projects, including the World Bank-assisted one, for environmental upgradation and balanced development in the region, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh told mediapersons today during a brief stopover here after inclement weather forced him to fly back from Pantnagar in his third attempt in as many days to visit the landslide-affected areas. The Chief Minister, who met anxious relatives of pilgrims reported killed or missing in the August 18 landslide in Pithoragarh district, assured them of all possible help to bring the injured and the bodies of the victims to Bareilly. According to the Commissioner (Bareilly), Mr Dipak Singhal, the "evacuation of the injured to safe places started at 0600 hours today by over 200 personnel of the ITBP, Army and Air Force. Attempts were being made to bring the 10 injured rescued from Malpa to Dharchula in Pithoragarh district. "Then the 45 pilgrims of the ninth batch will be brought to Dharchula from Gunji. Only after that the bodies would be brought to Bareilly, Mr Singhal said. Approximately 1,300 persons had been evacuated to safer places from Ukhimath (Rudraprayag district) and another 700 of three nearby villages would be evacuated soon, district officials said. Three aero-medical evacuation teams of the Indian Air Force had been put on alert to provide inflight medicare during air evacuation of the victims to Bareilly, Senior Medical Officer at the IAF base here, Wg Commander C. R. Rajan said. Twenty beds had been kept ready at the Air Force base hospital to cater to all emergencies, he said. An advanced air space
control centre had been established at Dharchula to guide
the rescue helicopters and aircraft, Air Officer
(Commanding) H. P. S. Sidhu told the media.Relief
Commissioner Ashok Kumar said in Lucknow that the Army
and ITBP jawans had stepped up the rescue operations
codenamed "white horse" and were trying to
extricate the bodies from a 20-metre high debris after
the local weather improved at Malpa. Twentyone bodies had
been extricated yesterday of which nine were of women
pilgrims, besides those of Border Roads Organisation
personnel and porters. |
Act mature, Swamy tells Mahajan CHENNAI, Aug 21 (UNI) Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today asked senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan to be "courageous and mature" enough to request the Prime Minister to order a CBI probe into AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithas allegation that hefty bribes been received for the transfer of Enforcement Director M.K. Bezbaruah to clear his name rather than threatening to sue her. In a statement here, Dr Swamy who has openly demanded that the AIADMK front should withdraw support to the BJP-led government, claimed that defamation cases had become the "first refuge for the corrupt to harass public-spirited leaders". Nothing should stop Mr Mahajan from filing a defamation case even now, since he has identified himself as the widely perceived target of Ms Jayalalithas accusation," Dr Swamy said. The Janata Party leaders statement comes in the wake of Mr Mahajans open challenge to Ms Jayalalitha at a press conference in Delhi yesterday to name him for bribe-taking so that he could sue her for defamation. According to Dr Swamy, the BJP leaders statement "is not only laughable, but self-condemnatory also. If Mr Mahajan was genuinely grieved and felt defamed by Ms Jayalalithas remarks, he should have asked the Prime Minister to agree to her demand for a CBI probe into the issue, he said. Interestingly, Ms Jayalalitha is yet to react to Mr Mahajans statement. Dr Swamy said Mr Mahajan should have also urged the Centre to bring out a white paper to reveal the file notings on Mr Bezbaruahs transfer to prove that it was above board. The fact that Mr Mahajan was stoutly defending the transfer of Mr Bezbaruah and vehemently opposing a probe on the plea of lack of proof, clearly suggested that he had something to hide, Dr Swamy alleged. The government was duty-bound to investigate a complaint and inform the complainant about the result of the investigation under our criminal jurisprudence, he claimed. He recalled that Prime Minister Vajpayee himself, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, had expressed apprehensions about the same newspaper baron and his attempt to influence the bureaucracy. Did Mr Vajpayee not have proof, he asked. Such "180-degree somersaults" always invite adverse inferences about motives and considerations, he said. Dr Swamy also claimed that the present government had come into existence and was surviving on the goodwill of Ms Jayalalitha. In "any other
democratic country, a probe would have been promptly
ordered to know the facts, vindicate the innocent and
prosecute the guilty," he added. |
SC gives nod to try Jaya NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court today directed a Chennai special court to go ahead with proceedings against AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha accused in a case of defrauding the Tamil Nadu government of over Rs 3 crore by purchasing Tansi land at a throwaway price during her chief ministership. Vacating a Madras High Court order postponing the proceedings, a Division Bench comprising Justice M.K. Mukherjee and Justice S.S.M. Quadri allowed a private complainant to withdraw his petition against Jayalalitha as the police has already filed a charge sheet bearing similar allegations. The private complainant, R. Sai Bharathi, had alleged that Jayalalitha bought the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (Tansi) land on May 29, 1992, on behalf of Jaya publication violating a 1969 government rule prohibiting the chief minister from buying any government land. The police after conducting a detailed investigation in the case filed a comprehensive charge sheet accusing Jayalalitha, her close associate N. Sasikala, former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Tansi T.R. Srinivasan, former Rural Industries Minister Mohammed Asif and another of their involvement in the land scam. The police in its charge sheet filed before the special judge said that Jayalalitha purchased "the property of Tansi foundry at Guindy for a sum below the guideline value and caused a loss of Rs 3, 13, 03, 100 to the government." The police in its charge sheet had alleged that Jayalalitha using her official position had undervalued the price of the Tansi land and caused loss to the government. All the accused in the scam were charged under Section 420 (cheating), 120 B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while Jayalalitha was additionally charged under Section 169 (public servants unlawfully buying or bidding for property) and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The police also alleged that Jayalalitha violated a Tamil Nadu government order of 1969 which prohibited the chief minister to buy from or sell to the government any immovable property. The court also allowed Jayalalitha to withdraw her special leave petition which had sought quashing of proceedings initiated in the private complaint. The Bench had earlier
observed that both the private complaint and
Jayalalithas petition have become infructuous as
the police has filed a charge sheet bearing the same
allegations against Jayalalitha. |
Cong prepares for session NEW DELHI, Aug 21 The Congress today got down to checking the final plan for the much-touted brainstorming session to be held in Pachmari, Madhya Pradesh, next month. The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, is keen to hold the session popularly known as the Narora-type camp, where a select group of leaders will introspect on the political, economic, international and organisational matters. A meeting was held here to review the preparations for the camp which is expected to be held from September 4 to 6 and attended by less than 200 delegates. The session will be open to members of the Congress Working Committee, former Cabinet ministers and ministers of state with independent charge, pradesh Congress chiefs, leaders of state legislatures, heads of frontal organisation and some from the host unit, party sources said. At a meeting today, it was decided to entrust the task of drafting Mrs Sonia Gandhis opening speech to Mr Sharad Pawar, who is the partys Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Many contentious issues are expected to come up for discussion, specially the post-Narasimha Rao phase, the loss of support among minorities after the Babri Masjid demolition and non-cooperation by the Congress government to the Jain Commission probe, party sources said. The political affairs background paper is being prepared by a sub-committee headed by Mr Arjun Singh. Dr Manmohan Singh heads the sub-committee preparing a paper on economic affairs in which the party will take a hard look at the economic reforms initiated during Mr Raos regime. There is a section in the party which feels that the reforms led to an impression being created that the Congress had abandoned its pro-poor image and, hence, need to be corrected. On the organisational front, the party has before it the report of the Sangma Committee which suggested many radical changes, including converting the Congress into a cadre-based party. The policy whether to provide reservation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, backwards, minorities and women is also expected to come up for discussion. It remains to be seen if
Pachmari could break the jinx because after the
Narora-type camp held during Mrs Indira Gandhis
era, attempts to hold a similar session have come to a
naught. |
Rs 14,000 crore Prasar Bharati scam surfaces MUMBAI, Aug 21 (UNI) Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said a major scam to the tune of a whopping Rs 14000 crore had been unearthed in Prasar Bharati Corporation and the government was considering a CBI inquiry into it. Speaking to mediapersons here, Mr Naqvi said the scam took place during the past eight months. The government had already initiated steps to get rid of corrupt elements in the corporation on the basis of facts and proof brought to its notice. He said the scam related to large-scale corruption in direct purchases of equipment from foreign companies, buying of world sports rights for Doordarshan and allotment of time slot for sponsored teleserials. He alleged that the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati made direct purchase deals with foreign companies by undertaking visits abroad and in several of such deals concluded, actually no equipment had reached India. He said he had already apprised various political parties about this. Several of the financial and other irregularities were anti-national in nature and these had been committed by people, sitting in the top posts, by exceeding the limits of their powers, he alleged. Mr Naqvi said despite repeated warnings of the government, those occupying top posts in Prasar Bharati indulged openly in financial irregularites by throwing all rules to the wind, he charged. In some deals concluded overseas, no equipment reached the country even though full payment was made. He said those involved
included some of those who were themselves serial
producers and were directly or indirectly connected with
the corporation. |
Women quota Bill next session, says Sushma JAIPUR, Aug 21 (PTI) The government is committed to introducing the women reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha in the next session of Parliament, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Addressing the BJP Mahila Morcha convention here, Ms Swaraj said despite a few political parties including the Congress, objecting to the introduction of the Bill in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had not given up on the issue and the government would fulfil its promise a 33 per cent reservation for women by introducing the Bill. She alleged that on the pretext of social justice and reservation percentage for OBC and Muslim women, "Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav have killed the aspirations of women. Stating that there was an urgent need to give representation to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, she said the women fraternity should not be divided on caste, religion and minority lines. Though the women had
entered all spheres of life, in politics, the
distribution of party ticket in elections was still a
male prerogative, she said. |
Jaya calls Cauvery authority a fraud CHENNAI, Aug 21 (UNI) All India Anna DMK supremo J. Jayalalitha today charged that the Cauvery River Valley Authority headed by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was a very big fraud perpetrated on the farmers of the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu. Referring to the agreement thrashed out at the meeting of chief ministers of riparian states in the presence of Mr Vajpayee to implement the Cauvery Tribunals interim award and constitution of the authority, she said in a five-page statement here that the Prime Minister had ignored all aspects relevant to release of water to Tamil Nadu during the crucial summer months and distress sharing. Ms Jayalalitha, whose AIADMK is a key ally of the BJP-led government at the Centre, had earlier warned of disastrous consequences if the Cauvery dispute was not resolved to the satisfaction of Tamil Nadu farmers. It was not clear whether Ms Jayalalithas reiteration of her known position on the issue, was intended to prepare the ground for what she herself described as the the knock out punch of withdrawing support to the Vajpayee government. She claimed that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and his Karnataka counterpart J.H. Patel had given their consent to the agreement formulated by the Prime Minister because both knew it was totally meaningless. The new authority would become defunct once the tribunal gave its final order by April next year, she said adding that the authority had no powers to implement the final award. Ms Jayalalithas statement, released a day after senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan challenged her to name him for alleged bribe-taking in connection with the transfer of Enforcement Director M.K. Bezbaruah and threatened to sue her, is surprisingly silent on that score and relates only to the Cauvery dispute. She maintained that once the final award is given, the disputant states would be back to quibbling and once more the rigmarole of legal tussles and arguments and appeals to the tribunal, the Supreme Court etc would begin all over again. Karnataka would not be
affected as it is the upper riparian state and only Tamil
Nadu would be adversely affected, she said. |
Chain of community silos mooted NEW DELHI, Aug 21 A pilot project for bulk handling of foodgrain in Punjab has been mooted by a steering committee in the Food Ministry. To begin with, the committee on Introduction of modern technology in handling storage and transportation of foodgrain has recommended that in Punjab a chain of community silos should be set up. This community storage system would obviate the need for farmers to store large quantity of foodgrains in their farms. Before taking the produce to the silo, grains should be cleaned at the farm-level. The committee has suggested that the State Agricultural Marketing Board or arhtiyas should step in to provide mechanical handling units at nominal charges. At the silo grains would be subject to a quick quality check. After the grains pass the test, these move on to the weighbridge and then are unloaded on the truck dumper and mechanically conveyed in to the bin. The farmer would be given a receipt by the silo management for the produce he has parted with. Since a majority of the farmers own small holdings and would be keen to get immediate returns after harvesting, the committee has suggested that while at the community silo the farmers produce would remain under the charge and upkeep by the silo management, a mechanism could be devised to see that the receipt issued by the silo management is made negotiable so as to enable the farmer to get finance against this receipt from a bank or financial institution. Alternatively the produce could be purchased outrightly at the minimum support price fixed by the government at the silo by the government procurement agency and kept in the silo by that agency till further movement. The number of bins at the silo would help in the segregation of produce of different grades. As regards the produce kept in storage with the silo management, the farmer should be given the right to decide as to when he wants to sell and to whom. After he decides to sell the produce, the prospective buyer would pay the cost to the silo management, which in turn would deduct the storage charges and refund the balance to the farmer. The committee says the community silos, which should be ideally situated near rail heads, could act as intermediary storage points and timely movement of foodgrain should be undertaken to feed the specified grain corridors in the country. The committee has made recommendations regarding developing facilities at various ports to enable export of surplus grain. The committee feels the community silo system is only one of the measures in introducing bulk storage system in the country. It has pointed out that the main problem is that of post-harvest losses which run into millions of tonnes of foodgrain, amounting to thousands of crores of rupees every year. A thinking to explore the new methodology of foodgrain storage on scientific lines, as is being done in other countries, has now begun. It must be taken to its logical conclusion. A grain saved is a grain produced. Preventing the post-harvest losses of foodgrain is the safest and surest way to increase foodgrain production in the country. The committee
has called for a policy direction with a longer
perspective in view. The choice is between continuing
with the traditional methods of foodgrain storage loaded
with potentials of huge losses or setting in motion a
time-bound action plan for developing infrastructure
indigenously for bulk handling of foodgrain. |
Menon for IT revolution NEW DELHI, Aug 21 Subsidisation of short-distance calls at the cost of long-distance calls should be done away with, the co-chairman of the national task force on information technology, Dr M.G.K. Menon, said here today. Inaugurating a seminar on telecommunications and information technology organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here today, Dr Menon said a strong political will was required to address the problem of cross-subsidisation. In order to engineer an information technology (IT) revolution in the country, there should be greater accessibility, availability and affordability to the telephone network, he said. Moroever, entry and exit to the telecom and information technology sector should be free and fair as technological obsolescence in this sector was very fast. Calling upon the state governments to play a more active role in bringing about the IT revolution in the country, Dr Menon said implementation of the programmes should come basically from the states. The chairman of the Telecom Commission, Mr A.V. Gokak said the revolution in the IT sector could be brought about with greater focus on modern techniques of planning, higher level of education and better accountability. Mr Gokak said multi-media mini computers and Internet were going to play a dominant role in generating business, facilitating communications and creating new ideas and concepts. Technical education,
therefore, should be given the right importance and that
alone would determine the pace of transformation, he
said. |
HC notice on pay of ITBP,
CRPF men NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) The Delhi High Court has issued show cause notices to the central government, the Union Finance Secretary and three paramilitary forces on a petition filed by several personnel of the forces alleging large-scale disparity and anomaly in their pay scales. The notices were issued to the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF). Issuing the notices, Mr Justice Virender Jain yesterday directed the respondents to file their replies by October 5 on the petition filed through counsel C.S. Rathor. The petition alleged that there was a large scale unjustified pay disparity between them and their subordinates in the central police organisations which was continuing for over a decade. The situation remained the same even when the Fourth Pay Commissions recommendations in January 1986 had suggested that the petitioners be paid salary on a par with the central police organisations, including the Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Delhi Police. The petitioners, all in the rank of constables, sub-inspectors and inspectors, stated that even though their colleagues in the CPOs were posted in relatively peaceful and less difficult areas, they were paid much more compared to the petitioners. The disparity prevailed even while the mode of recruitment, educational qualification and physical standards sought for entry in all these forces was more or less the same. After recruitment,
however, the deployment of the BSF, the CRPF and the ITBP
was in adverse places, including remote border areas
located at heights up to 18,000 feet, having temperature
close to minus 40 degrees celsius and areas which were
affected by militancy. |
VP for debate on Srikrishna
report NEW DELHI, Aug 21 - Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh today criticised the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra for the manner in which the Srikrishna Commission report on Mumbai riots was disposed of and said it smacked of an authoritarian attitude. In a statement he said the governments action was a violation of all democratic norms and demanded that Parliament should deliberate on it. Mr Singh said the convention that was being laid down by such an arbitrary action was that the ruling party could summarily throw away any indictment against itself even if it was by a duly constituted body. What relief is there
to victims if perpetrators of crime have the powers to
decide on the validity of their indictment? Can they be
impartial, Mr Singh asked and said Parliament
should deliberate on this and think of a just and
effective solution for such cases. |
Tushar not to take Godse play to court MUMBAI, Aug 21 (PTI) Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, asserted today he would continue his fight against "attempts at making a martyr out of Bapujis killer Nathuram Godse". "I will continue to fight against attempts to give the halo of martyrdom to a killer at an intellectual level but do not intend to legally challenge the controversial Marathi play "Mee Nathuram Godsey Boltoy", Mr Gandhi told PTI here. Performances of the play were prohibited by the Maharashtra Government last month on the Central Governments directive due to apprehensions of breach of peace after the issue generated heat in Parliament and Congress activists here staged a militant demonstration outside a theatre forcing the police to resort to a cane charge. Mr Gandhi said a public debate on the play organised by the "Citizens Organisation for Public Opinion" here last night had to be called off "as it turned very acrimonious and tempers reached a very critical high". He was, however, not deterred from participating in such debates on the issue in future. Besides Mr Gandhi, others
invited to speak were the plays writer Pradeep
Dalvi, producer Uday Dhurat, director Vinay Apte and
actor Sharad Ponkshe. |
Delhi gets an eco-friendly bus NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (PTI) Indias first passenger bus to run on pollution-free compressed natural gas (CNG) was launched in the national capital today. The bus, fitted with an engine procured from the American manufacturer "Cummins", will be run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on a trial basis from tomorrow. "This is a beginning in our efforts to replace the entire DTC fleet by CNG vehicles by year 2001 as directed by the Supreme Court," Delhi Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta said here after receiving the bus from the manufacturers, Telco. He said the government was aiming at making Delhi pollution free by the end of the century. Telco General Manager Ram Nath claimed that the bus, which has the engine in the rear, power steering and hydraulic door closing system, will help maintain clean and green Delhi. However, more CNG outlets needed to be opened all over the city to help the transition from petrol to CNG vehicles in the city. Mr Nath said the company
would start mass production of the Rs 15 lakh bus after a
green signal from the Delhi Government and the cost would
be much lower since the engine would be indigenously
manufactured. |
JD, Samata for Rabri govt dismissal PATNA, Aug 21 (PTI) The Janata Dal and the Samata Party today appealed to Bihar Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari to immediately recommend dismissal of the Rabri Devi government following a CBI raid at her residence in connection with the fodder scam. Senior Dal leader Ram Vilas Paswan and state Samata party President Raghunath Jha met the Governor at Raj Bhavan to demand Rabris dismissal even as CBI raids continued at the residence of the Chief Minister. Rabri Devi has lost moral authority to continue in office even for a moment after the raid, the first on the house of a serving Chief Minister, Paswan told reporters. Describing the raid as belated, the Dal leader said the raid should have been conducted in a more professional manner with utmost secrecy.... The entire town knew beforehand that the CBI was to raid the houses of Chief Minister and people close to her. Paswan said he would congratulate the BJP government at the Centre if it dismissed the Rabri government without more ado. State Samata Party President, while seeking Rabris dismissal said she has brought disgrace to the high office by sheltering the main accused of the fodder scam. The Samata Party delegation requested the Governor to lose no time in recommending imposition of Presidents rule in Bihar. Paswan and Jha claimed the
Governor had assured the delegations of appropriate
action. |
Constable gets one-year RI for taking Rs 20 NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (PTI) A police constable has been sentenced by a city court to one years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2,500 on him for taking a bribe of Rs 20 from a litigant 10 years ago. Constable Rohtas Singh,who was working as a naib in the court of then Metropolitan Magistrate Naipal Sangh, had taken the amount from Mohammad Ashfaq Khan for giving him the release order of his motor cycle in August 1989. Special Judge Dinesh
Dayal, who passed the sentence, said I find that
the case of the prosecution has been proved beyond
reasonable doubt. |
Speed up ayurvedic scam trial: court LUCKNOW, Aug 21 (UNI) The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court monitoring the multi-crore ayurvedic scam in Uttar Pradesh has directed the state government to form a special court within 15 days for speedy trial of the scam. The high court also directed CBI counsel Arun Kumar Srivastava to complete the investigation by October 10. A Division Bench
comprising Justice Palok Basu and Justice R.K. Mahajan
yesterday asked the district judge, Lucknow to allot a
room for the special court within three days. 117 Lok Sabha MPs non-graduate NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) As many as 117 members of the 11th Lok Sabha are non-graduates constituting about 22 per cent of the 545-member House while the Rajya Sabha has 26 undergraduates, according to official records. Sixteen of the 117 MPs do
not even possess school certificates. There are 222
graduates constituting the bulk 44 per cent of the Lok
Sabha members. The postgraduates are 149 in number (29
per cent) while doctorates are only 29 (six per cent). |
Navroz greetings NEW DELHI, Aug 21 (UNI) President K.R. Narayanan, Vice-President Krishan Kant and Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee have wished the people on the occasion of Navroz, which marks the beginning of the Parsi new year. In a message, the President said "may this festival reinforce our commitment to synthesis, harmony and goodwill towards all". The Vice-President hoped Navroz brought with it a year full of happiness, harmony and peace. Extending his greetings to
all Parsi brothers and sisters on this auspicious
occasion, the Prime Minister hoped Navroz would
strengthen the bonds of amity and goodwill among people. |
In
brief Bogus rail ticket racket busted Swamp deer
population declines Diarrhoea claims
117 lives Four sentenced to
death Goat milk protein
anti-bacterial |
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