Sunday, November 15, 1998

President’s Body Guard to get Silver Trumpet
NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The President’s Bodyguard, the personal troops of the President of India, will be presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner by President K.R. Narayanan on November 16.

Gawali gang member killed
MUMBAI, Nov 14 — A notorious gangster owing allegiance to the Arun Gawali gang was shot dead by the police at Andheri in north-west Mumbai early today.

Gowda rules out mid-term poll
VADODARA, Nov 14 — Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda today lashed at the BJP-led government at the Centre for not fulfilling any of the promises made to the people before the February general election but ruled out mid-term poll in the country in view of the country's deteriorating economic condition.

UN accepts India's proposal on reducing N-danger
NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — India said today that the acceptance of its resolution by the United Nations on "reducing nuclear danger" clearly demonstrated that New Delhi had not been internationally isolated for its Pokhran nuclear tests in May.

Panel for children announced

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 (UNI) — The government today announced the formation of a national commission for children to go into all aspects of development and problems concerning children.

The announcement was made by Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at a function organised at Rashtriya Bal Bhavan to mark Children's Day.

Dr Joshi said that the commission would go into all aspects like health, education and rights of children and their exploitation. A Bill to this effect was expected in the coming Parliament session. The Prime Minister, who spent half an hour more than the scheduled time among children, said the proposed commission would also look into the proposal for Bal Bhavans in state capitals.

A student’s organisation in Manipur boycotted Children's Day functions in protest against a "historical mistake" allegedly committed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru 46 years ago.

The newly formed Manipur State Students Forum (MSSF) in a statement said, the country’s first Prime Minister had handed over the 3000 square miles Kabaw valley, once a part of Manipur, to Burma (presently Myanmar) in 1952.

The statement said had the valley been still a part of the state, it would have generated a revenue of at least Rs 10 crore annually from its forest and other natural resources.

Vice-President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were among a large number of people from all walks of life who visited Shantivan, the samadhi of the late Prime Minister on the banks of the Yamuna, to offer floral tributes.

President K.R. Narayanan could not visit the samadhi as he was indisposed.

Floral tributes were also offered at the portrait of Nehru in the central hall of Parliament and a booklet containing the profile of Nehru in Hindi and English was brought out by the Lok Sabha secretariat.

Garlanding of Nehru’s statues, debates on his ideals and special competitive programmes for children highlighted celebrations across the country.

Children from all parts of the country gathered at Bal Bhavan here and heard the Prime Minister tell them that childhood was the time to imbibe the qualities of brotherhood, humility and other virtues that go into the making of an ideal citizen.

There was a steady stream of visitors at Anand Bhavan in Allahabad, the ancestral home of the Nehrus, to pay respects to the architect of modern India.

An exhibition of photographs, depicting the life and contributions of Nehru was also held in Allahabad.

In Mumbai, among the programmes to mark the occasion was a drawing competition through computers for children.

In Hyderabad, an "open house" for schoolchildren was organised at Raj Bhavan and Governor C. Rangrajan inaugurated a children’s art exhibition.

In Pondicherry, Governor Rajani Rai launched the "balika samridhi yojana" which envisages payment of Rs 500 to young mothers with baby girls.

In Chennai, Governor Justice (retd) M. Fathima Beevi, garlanded the statue of Nehru at Kathipara junction.

BJP infighting helps Cong
From Syed Ali Ahmed

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The Punjabi-dominated assembly segments falling in the Sadar parliamentary constituency have traditionally been the BJP bastions.

During the last assembly poll, the voters here elected the then chief ministerial candidate, Mr Madan Lal Khurana. However, this time the BJP has fielded three new faces in five assembly segments falling within this parliamentary constituency.

The Congress, which failed to win a single seat in the 1993 poll, has made elaborate preparations to make a dent in the BJP votebank.

Issues like price rise, deteriorating law and order, adulteration of mustard oil and worsening civic amenities has improved the Congress chances for victory. Infighting in the BJP and the war of words between Mr Khurana and the former Delhi Chief Minister Mr Sahib Singh Verma, too, will work in favour of the Congress.

The hold of Mr Khurana in the Delhi unit of the party is evident from the fact that he has been able to have his associates as party candidates from here.

On the other hand the Congress leader, Mr Jagdish Tytler, who has been charge-sheeted for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, ensured that the nominees of his opponents were denied the ticket.

The Sadar Parliamentary constituency comprises five assembly seats: Timarpur, Model Town, Kamla Nagar, Sadar Bazar and Moti Nagar.

The BJP candidate and RSS supporter, Mr Raghuvansh Singhal is contesting from the Timarpur constituency where the Congress candidate is Mr Jagdish Anand.

The contest here is being seen as one between the Punjabi and Vaish communities.

The Moti Nagar seat which was vacated by Mr Madan Lal Khurana, is being contested by Mr Avinash Sahni, president of the BJP mandal. The Congress candidate is Sant Kanwaljeet Naamdhari.

The BJP candidate from the Sadar Bazar Seat is Mr Hari Krishna. The Congress has fielded Mr Rajesh Jain from Kamla Nagar. The BJP candidate in Model Town is Mr Bhola Nath Vij while the Congress has fielded Mr Kiran Singh.

In the 1993 assembly elections, Mr Rajendra Gupta had won the Timarpur assembly seat with over 50 per cent votes. This time the BJP ticket has gone to Mr Raghuvansh. In the parliamentary elections in 1996 the Congress had polled 47 per cent votes and the BJP 48.26 per cent.

In the municipal elections the BJP candidate had polled 45.13 per cent votes and the Congress had got 37 per cent votes. In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections the BJP had polled 57 per cent votes and the Congress 41 per cent.

Most colonies in these assembly segments have broken roads. There is neither a garbage disposal system nor a proper drainage system. Water-logging and inadequate transport system are other problems.

In the Kamla Nagar constituency issues like industrial pollution, erratic supply of electricity, encroachments leading to traffic jams and inflated electricity bills will play a vital role.

Sikh Forum assails Akalis
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The hero of 1971 Bangladesh war, Lt-Gen J.S. Aurora (retd) and few other eminent persons of the Sikh community today urged the Sikhs in Delhi and other states to vote according to their conscience and not look for guidance from regional political parties in Punjab during the forthcoming assembly polls.

Addressing a seminar "Future of Sikhs outside Punjab", organised by the Sikh Forum, General Aurora said "we should not look for guidance to political leadership in Punjab during elections in Delhi and other places. Sikhs outside Punjab should vote according to their conscience."

Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr R.S. Narula, said Sikh leadership in Punjab, including Akalis, had failed to protect the interest of the Sikh community outside the state. "They are more interested in protecting the interests of their families and near and dear ones," he said.

Reminding the community of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other places, he said "in Punjab nobody is concerned about Sikhs outside the state. We are responsible for electing such leaders who do not care for us." Asking the Sikhs outside Punjab to build an independent identity for themselves by following the teachings of great "Gurus" in letter and spirit, the speakers stressed the community to observe the happenings in Punjab closely, which has direct bearing on their lives.

He said Punjab’s economic activities, particularly in the field of industry, had lessened which today as it did not have any major private sector industry, a mandatory requisite for the development of any state’s economy in the changed scenario.

The value of Punjab in the national scene would remain "only as long as it had dominance in agriculture," Justice Narula said, adding that once this withered away, the state’s importance would diminish as it would have nothing to show in the field of industry.

He stressed the importance of education in the emerging scenario and pointed out the meagre presence of Sikhs in the intellectual arena.

Noted writer Mahip Singh expressed concern over the image of Sikhs suffering a setback outside Punjab. "If we associate ourselves directly with Punjab politics, it will cause more damage than benefitting us," he cautioned.

"Punjab leaders, including Akalis should not take it for granted that we will follow them blindly," he said.

Admiral Satindra Singh expressed his concern over the decreasing number of Sikhs joining the forces. Urging the Sikhs to ponder over the changing priorities of the community, he said the change should be for better.

Several speakers stressed the need to function in the spirit of community and their need to integrate with the local community while emphasising the need to maintain their separate identity.

Drug mafia don killed in Dubai

MUMBAI, Nov 14 (PTI) — Irfan Gogha, Asian kingpin of drug mafia and mastermind behind kidnappings for ransom, has been killed in Dubai by rival gangsters, police sources said here tonight.

Gogha's body was found in his car yesterday by Dubai police, the sources said.

Twentyeight persons, including Anees Ibrahim, younger brother of absconding underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and Sharad Shetty, who are on the wanted list of the Mumbai police, have been arrested in connection with the murder, they said.

Gogha (31) is believed to have been picked up from his Dubai residence by Dawood gang members about four days ago. His wife had lodged a missing complaint with the Dubai Police.

Gogha, who began his career in crime in eastern Uttar Pradesh with offences like smuggling and attempt to murder, had later specialised in carrying out kidnappings of businessmen for ransom. He had made an abortive bid to kidnap industrialist Ashok Mittal from the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in 1995.

He was a close associate of gangster Babloo Srivastava and together they planned and carried out many kidnappings for ransom. They were at one time closely associated with Nepal-based underworld don Mirza Dilshad Beg, believed to have been a frontman of Dawood Ibrahim. But later they fell apart.

Mirza was shot dead a few months ago in Nepal.

INDORE: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Saturday that his government was seeking deportation of gangsters holed up in Dubai for which an extradition treaty was proposed to be signed with the United Arab Emirates.

This was part of urgent measures being taken by the government to curb mafia activities in the country, he told reporters here.

Mr Vajpayee said the government would also convene a meeting of all political parties to discuss the mafia menace.

"Some progress has been made towards signing an extradition treaty with the UAE Government. However, a few problems are still to be sorted out", said Mr Vajpayee, who is now on a two-day campaign tour of Madhya Pradesh for the November 25 Assembly poll.

Terming the rise in prices as a seasonal phenomenon, the Prime Minister said the prices had already begun to show a downtrend in the wake of urgent steps taken by his government.

More measures to arrest the price spiral were on the anvil, he said, adding the price rise issue would not affect electoral prospects of the BJP.

Constituency profile — South Delhi
Heavyweights in fray
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The Assembly constituencies falling within the South Delhi Parliamentary seat present a classic case of dichotomy with the voters profile covering the entire spectrum of the income scale.

South Delhi also has the distinction of having the largest number of Delhi Ministers in fray. Interestingly, among the women candidates fielded by the two major parties, five of them are contesting from this area.

Many local stalwarts of the two major parties, the BJP and the Congress, figure in the list of candidates spread across the 10 Assembly constituencies in this area. They include the BJP Chief Ministerial candidate, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, former state Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta, Delhi Finance Minister Jagdish Mukhi, Delhi Food, Civil Supplies Minister Poornima Sethi and Delhi Industry Minister Har Charan Singh Balli of the BJP and Mrs Kiran Chaudhury and Mr Ajay Maken, of the Congress.

The Assembly constituencies here are spread across upmarket colonies like Green Park, South Extension, Gautam Nagar, Malviya Nagar and Greater Kailash Part II on the one hand and slums and jhuggi-jhopri (JJ) clusters in areas like Okhla and Pratap Nagar on the other.

This Parliamentary constituency has the most number of JJ clusters after East Delhi and Outer Delhi with as many as 34 clusters concentrated in Okhla area alone.

There are 11,56,075 voters in all the 10 Assembly seats put together. The constituencies here are Okhla, Kalkaji, Malviya Nagar, Hauz Khas, R.K. Puram, Delhi Cantt, Janakpuri, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden.

During the last polls in 1993, the BJP won eight seats with the Congress and the Janata Dal winning one each. Four of the eight elected BJP candidates later became ministers in the last government.

Among the Assembly constituencies, the Hauz Khas seat is of considerable importance as Mrs Swaraj will be contesting the assembly elections in Delhi for the first time.

The battle here will be between two women since the Congress has fielded a newcomer, Mrs Kiran Walia, who has considerable experience in University teachers’ politics.

This constituency located in South Delhi is all set to witness the clash between the Chief Ministerial candidate of the BJP, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, and the Congress candidate, the well-known champion of university teacher issues, Mrs Kiran Walia.

In the last Assembly polls in 1993, BJP’s Rajesh Sharma was elected polling 44.39 per cent votes in his favour. Congress candidate Ashoke Kumar Jain, who had come second, had polled 40.28 per cent of the votes.

Mrs Swaraj has been returned to Parliament twice by the South Delhi Parliamentary constituency and she enjoys considerable say in the area specially among women voters.

Her main opponent, Mrs Kiran Walia, was also chosen on the last minute. Known for her vociferous and sometimes overtly ambitious approach for handling the issues of Delhi University teachers, her strengths as having been a part of the university politics will come in handy during the campaigning.

The Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden Assembly constituencies have the highest concentration of Sikh and Punjabi voters. Tilak Vihar in Tilak Nagar area is a colony of the 1984 riot victims. The people there are of the opinion that the issues concerning the Sikh populace has been given a short shrift by the political parties.

“Although the leaders are claiming to have done a lot for our welfare, we are yet to see any concrete results”, a resident of Tilak Vihar said.

The battlelines are also drawn in the Kalkaji Assembly constituency where the opponents are the same as it was five years back.

While the BJP candidate, Mrs Poornima Sethi, was the lone BJP woman to win the election in the 1993 Assembly poll and went on to become a minister. Her rival the Congress candidate, Mr Subhash Chopra, is still continuing to find his footings in Delhi politics.

For Mrs Sethi her strength of having been a minister also is a heavy stone tied to her feet as the charge of the Food and Civil Supplies ministry in the Delhi Government means that she was directly responsible for the rise in prices of essential commodities, especially onion.

Although Mrs Poornima Sethi is quick to defend her argument by stating “The rise in prices of onions was a nation-wide issue” it may not cut ice with the public which is seeing its home budget go for a toss.

Even the deaths due to consumption of adulterated mustard oil are proving to be a major source of embarrassment for the BJP activists in Kalkaji, who are finding it difficult to explain why the government did not act quickly to prevent the dropsy deaths.

The unhappiness among the people is also due to the fact that they had expected “better work” from the government since she was a minister. “Development has not got a fillip in the constituency as it should have considering the fact that she was a minister,” voters say.

The issue of slow pace of development is also agitating the minds of people in the other Assembly constituencies, specially since, the BJP had promised to make a sea change after being given an opportunity to govern Delhi.

Rajasthan Assembly elections
Adding to Chautala’s woes
From Milap Chand Dandia

JAIPUR, Nov 14 —Mr Om Prakash Chautala might have succeeded in compelling the BJP to enter into a poll alliance with him in Rajasthan, his everchanging stand has made him and his Indian National Lok Dal a laughing stock in the state.

Mr Chautala originally demanded 11 seats from the BJP but settled for seven seats. Though he wrested seven seats, he in fact, had not sufficient number of candidates to contest even in those constituencies. The list of candidates in the field shows that Mr Chautala has only one official candidate on his party symbol. Even his son, who too, is in the fray, from Sangaria is contesting as Lok Dal nominee.

In two constituencies Mr Chautala will be challenged by rebel BJP candidates and in one he will fight with BJP’s official nominee. But in the remaining constituencies too only official INLD candidate will be in the run. A BJP office-bearer says that this has amply proved that Mr Chautala neither had adequate preparation for the contest nor enough number of candidates to contest.

To add to the woes of Mr Chautala his own brother Mr Pratap Singh has come to Rajasthan to jump in the fray as star campaigner against INLD candidates specially Mr Abhey Singh Chautala in Sangaria constituency.

Mr Pratap Singh told reporters at Hanumangarh that November 14 onwards he would campaign against his nephew Abhay Singh. Condemning “Chautalawad” he accused his father Mr Devi Lal and brother Mr Om Prakash of promoting family interests and said he would struggle against this throughout his life.

“Ajay Singh Chautala became MLA first from Dante Ramgarh and then from Nohar in Rajasthan. What the voters of both constituencies got by electing him? He did not even show his face in the constituencies after getting elected. Now Abhay Singh is in the race from Sangaria and says wants to serve people”, Mr Pratap Singh observed. He asked “is there any dearth of bona fide residents of Rajasthan to contest elections to the state Vidhan Sabha that Mr Chautala has come to Rajasthan. If he really intends to serve people there is vast scope for the same even in Haryana.

Pre-election survey gives Cong edge
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The Congress has an edge over its main political rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and can end up attaining a majority in the forthcoming Delhi assembly poll, according to a pre-election survey.

Conducted by the Centre for Media Studies, the survey predicts that going by the current trend the Congress can garner between 38 to 40 seats with a 42 per cent vote share as against the BJP’s 24 to 26 seats with a vote share of 38 per cent. Delhi has a 70-member legislative assembly.

The survey says the Congress has an edge of over 16 per cent of those who voted for the BJP in the earlier elections and predicts that the latter’s vote share will be the lowest since the 1993 assembly elections.

The Centre claims the predictions are based on a survey conducted between November 10 and 12 in 36 assembly segments with “carefully selected” 1800 voters with an error margin of 3 per cent.

The survey indicates that the Janata Dal/Lok Dal may win two seats while three will go to others. The change in the vote share is minus 4.82 per cent of the BJP and plus 7.62 of the Congress.

The survey says rebel candidates in six constituencies will eventually decide the fate of the two contending parties and three or four Independents or of other parties can decide the character of the next Delhi government.

It says three-fourth of voters are agitated over the price rise. This factor alone affects the prospects of the BJP retaining power.

More than 50 per cent feel the Congress can offer a better government as against 34 per cent who favour the BJP.

MP Govt "suppressing facts" in rape case

KHARGONE (MP), Nov 14 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today charged the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh with having tried to suppress the facts in the case of rape involving nuns in Jhabua district in September last.

"The state government which furnished incorrect information, had tried to suppress the incident in every possible way", Mr Vajpayee alleged while launching BJP’s campaign for the November 25 Assembly elections in the state at a meeting at Navgraha ground near here.

The incident had raised a furore throughout the country and Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had said he would urge the Centre to institute a CBI inquiry into it only if a similar investigation into such incidents was ordered in other states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Mr Vajpayee said though the Congress and Congressmen had lost the last Lok Sabha elections, "their lust for power had not decreased."

He also derided the Congress saying it was trying to capture power by "sitting on heaps of onions".

However, the people would not allow the Congress to succeed in its attempt, he said.

He said when prices of onion started falling, the Congress created an artificial scarcity of salt and blamed the BJP for it. "But all these things have been exposed and people know what the Congress really stands for", he said.

Mr Vajpayee expressed confidence that BJP would win the Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

"Let us not talk about Mizoram, the fourth state where also elections will be held on November 25", he said.

Mr Vajpayee said the nuclear explosions in May this year had given a new direction to India’s standing in the world and added that attempts to prevent India from conducting nuclear explosions were made by those nations which were already nuclear powers.

India had fought three wars since Independence and on all these occasions, the Congress had gone in for conciliation, Mr Vajpayee said.

He also charged the Congress with trying to discredit the BJP by alleging that the foreign policy under its regime was a failure.

A lot had been done in the last eight months after the BJP-led coalition government assumed office, the Prime Minister said.

CBI to probe Romesh’s role in fodder scam

PATNA, Nov 14 (PTI) — The CBI has set up a special team to probe links of Romesh Sharma, an alleged Dawood Ibrahim front man, with some of the prime accused in the multi-crore fodder scam, CBI sources said here today.

The team, headed by the CBI SP (Dhanbad and Ranchi) Mr Rakesh Asthana, has been constituted following a directive from the Union Home Minister Mr LK Advani, to the agency to go into Romesh Sharma’s links with politicians and the underworld.

The CBI counsel, while opposing the bail petition of the RJD President, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, in a conspiracy angle case of the fodder scam, had alleged that the leader had close association with Sharma.

The Division Bench of the Patna High Court monitoring investigations into the multi-crore scam had also asked the CBI to ascertain the real estate dealer’s links with scamsters and directed it to share information with the Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate authorities.

The CBI sources said the agency suspected Sharma’s role in violation of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) by some key accused of the scam.

President’s Body Guard to get Silver Trumpet
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 — The President’s Bodyguard, the personal troops of the President of India, will be presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner by President K.R. Narayanan on November 16.

The presentation is to commemorate 225 years of distinguished service by the seniormost unit of the Indian Army, the President’s Body Guard.

The President’s Body Guard has the unique distinction of being the only military unit of the Indian Army privileged to carry the President’s silver trumpet and trumpet banner.

According to the Commandant of the President’s Body Guard, Colonel KMS Shergill, as part of the three day long celebrations of its 225th anniversary, a free fall display, polo match and mounted display at the Jaipur Polo Ground will be held.

Colonel KMS Shergill said the presentation by Mr K.R. Narayanan on November 16 will be the ninth that the Regiment will receive since Independence.

Gawali gang member killed

MUMBAI, Nov 14 (UNI) — A notorious gangster owing allegiance to the Arun Gawali gang was shot dead by the police at Andheri in north-west Mumbai early today.

The police said, gangster Pramod Gogale (30) was planning to kill the President of Maharashtra Truck-Tempo Kamgar Sena Sashikant Sawant, the DN Nagar police, acting on a tip-off, maintained a vigil at link road in the same area.

Gogale arrived with two of his associates and was told to surrender. However, instead of doing so, he fired on the police. In retaliation, the policemen fired back at the gangsters and in the ensuing shoot-out Gogale was injured. He was taken to Cooper hospital, where he was declared dead.

Gowda rules out mid-term poll

VADODARA, Nov 14 (UNI) — Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda today lashed at the BJP-led government at the Centre for not fulfilling any of the promises made to the people before the February general election but ruled out mid-term poll in the country in view of the country's deteriorating economic condition.

Talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here on his way to two-day election campaign for the November 25 Lok Sabha byelection in Bharuch, Mr Gowda said, "Nobody wants frequent general election as the country cannot bear the huge expenditure involved due to its deteriorating economic condition.".

Mr Gowda said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government at the Centre and the state has totally failed. While in power, except for conducting nuclear tests, they have not done anything for the masses".

Lashing out at the government, he said, "priority should be given to basic needs of the common citizens but the government has till date not fulfilled any of the promises made to the people during their election campaign in February this year".

"The mid-term polls will not change the situation since no single mandatory party will get pure majority to form a government. Only the political scenario will change a little bit", Mr Gowda however, added.

"All secular parties, including the Congress, should come together to defeat the ruling BJP government at the Centre and state level", he said, adding that the "Congress party is the only alternative to form the government because it is the second largest party in the House of 545 members and we have only six members".

UN accepts India's proposal on reducing N-danger

NEW DELHI, Nov 14 (PTI) — India said today that the acceptance of its resolution by the United Nations on "reducing nuclear danger" clearly demonstrated that New Delhi had not been internationally isolated for its Pokhran nuclear tests in May.

New Delhi got a shot in the arm with a UN committee endorsing its resolution and asking the five declared nuclear weapons states to undertake "immediate and urgent" steps to reduce the risks of unintentional and accidental use of nuclear arsenal.

The nuclear states contention that they had already taken such steps were rejected by a vast majority of the member states of the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISC).

This new initiative by New Delhi proved beyond doubt India's commitment to nuclear disarmament despite having nuclear weapons, senior External Affairs Ministry officials said.

The resolution, which came a day after the committee deplored India and Pakistan for their nuclear tests, found wide support among developing nations and was adopted by 68 votes to 44, with 12 abstentions.

The Indian resolution calls for review of nuclear doctrines and stresses that the "hair-trigger" alert of nuclear weapons carries unacceptable risks of unintentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons which will have catastrophic consequences for mankind.

The officials said the resolution was adopted despite strong opposition by the five declared nuclear powers and their allies.

Charges framed against ex-minister
CHENNAI: Charges were framed against a former AIADMK minister Nagoor Meeran on Friday by a special court in connection with a disproportionate wealth case during his tenure as a minister in the Jayalalitha government, between 1992 and 1996. After the former minister and his wife, Dr Noor Jameela, charged with abetment, pleaded not guilty, the judge, Mr S. Sambandam, trying cases of corruption during the AIADMK rule, framed the charges and posted the case for December 12. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has charged Meeran with acquiring wealth to the tune of Rs 33.72 lakh, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income. — PTI

SP to support Congress
TIKAMGARH: Samajwadi Party would support the Congress if the latter formed governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi after the November 25 Assembly polls, according to the party President, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. Claiming that his party would emerge as the third force in the three states, Mr Yadav said on Friday that the party would not extend any help to the BJP in forming governments. He said the Congress would have to depend on Samajwadi Party’s help in the formation of its government in Madhya Pradesh. — PTI

Two tribal women gangraped
HYDERABAD: Two tribal women, one of them pregnant, were gangraped in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, the police said on Friday. The women and their menfolk, all residents of Annaram Shareif Hamle, had gone to Warangal town to watch a movie and then went to the house of an acquaintance for overnight stay. Around 11.30 p.m., a gang of 11 youths went to the house, beat up the male members and forcibly took the women to nearby bushes and raped them, the police said. A mobile police squad, which was passing by, arrested five youths, while the others escaped. — PTI

NLFT insurgents kidnap three
AGARTALA: Militants of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have kidnapped three persons in West Tripura district, the police said on Friday. Armed Insurgents of NLFT kidnapped three persons at gunpoint on Thursday when they were collecting firewood in a forest. Meanwhile, security forces arrested one NLFT collaborator from Paniramthakurpara, a tribal hamlet under Takarjala police station of West Tripura district. — PTI

‘Mother Teresa’ of Orissa dead
SAMBALPUR: Pravabati Devi, an eminent freedom fighter, also known as the Mother Teresa of Orissa, died on Friday at the orphanage set up by her at Chhachanpali, a village, 22 km from here, her family sources said. She was 88. She had been living at Rukmini Devi Lath Bal Niketan, the orphanage she had set up. She was honoured by Sambalpur University at its last convocation held early this year. — PTI

Sonia holds talks with Basu
NEW DELHI: The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, on Friday held a one-to-one meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, at Banga Bhavan. According to Banga Bhavan sources, the two leaders met for 20 minutes. Though what transpired at the meeting was not disclosed, it assumed importance in political circles in view of the November 25 elections in four states. — UNI