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Sunday,
October 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP
MLAs’ threat to form party Employment
guarantee scheme on anvil
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Judicial
probe sought into Dalits’ killing Troops
complete joint exercises in USA
CPM
urges party men to boost development Kalam
lays stone of academy Trainee
pilot charged with creating anthrax scare
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BJP MLAs’ threat to form party Lucknow, October 19 Fast paced political developments overshadowed the much-hyped inauguration of the BSNL mobile service by the Prime Minister at Raj Bhavan. Senior BJP leaders, including the state president of the party, Mr Vinay Katiyar, were busy in a damage-control exercise, trying to pacify the BJP legislators. On the other hand, the Urban Development Minister, Mr Lalji Tandon, who is also the constituency in charge of Mr Vajpayee, met the Independent legislators and conceded that their grievances were genuine. The BJP legislators, 24 of them, held a meeting yesterday while the Independent legislators, all 14 of them who are supporting the Mayawati-led BJP-BSP alliance government, held a meeting in the night. The rebel BJP legislators asked the party ministers to resign and suggested that the party should support the government from outside. The BJP legislators even asked the party leaders to change Mr Tandon as the leader of the BJP legislature party. The rebel legislators received unqualified support from senior BJP leaders and Irrigation Minister Om Prakash Singh, who has voiced anger over the way the Higher Education portfolio was taken away from him. “This was done at the insistence of some coaching institutions whose operations I had banned in the state,” Mr Om Prakash Singh had told a newspaper. With the independents unfurling a banner of revolt against the BJP-BSP alliance leader, the crusade launched by the BJP rebels has all of a sudden gathered pace. A small delegation comprising rebel BJP legislators and the Independents had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister so that they could apprise Mr Vajpayee of their problems. |
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Employment
guarantee scheme on anvil New Delhi, October 19 “Jayaprakash Rozgar Guarantee Programme will be launched by year-end in 130 districts selected on the basis of poverty and backwardness by a task force set up by the ministry,” Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar told newspersons here today. The Centre had earmarked Rs 5,000 crore in the 10th Five Year Plan for the implementation of this programme, he said. Elaborating on the programme, Mr Kumar said people of the selected districts would decide on what work should be undertaken and the task would be entrusted to local labourers within 15 days. It would be ensured that the labourers got at least 100 days of employment in a year and also the stipulated minimum wages. To ensure the effective implementation of various schemes, he said vigilance/monitoring committees would be set up soon at the state, district and block levels as the Centre could not monitor the progress at the grassroots level from the national Capital. He said these committees would be represented by government officials and elected representatives of the people. Stating that the government had accorded top priority to drinking water and road connection in all the villages, Mr Kumar said the Asian Development Bank had agreed in principle to extend $300 million loan for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and that 1.6 lakh villages would be covered under the scheme by 2007. As for extending drinking water supply, he said by 2004 all villages would be provided with drinking water supply. |
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Sainiks vow to join suicide squads
New Delhi, October 19 The Shiv Sainiks, led by party’s Delhi chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal, gathered at Jantar Mantar here and vowed to sacrifice their lives while fighting “Islamic terrorism.” However, the proposed suicide squads were not aimed at targeting any particular community, “Their objective will be to fight ISI agents active in the country,” according to Mr Goyal. Addressing the activists, Mr Goyal demanded immediate withdrawal of the criminal case filed against Mr Thackeray for his alleged inflammatory speech on Dasehra and said crores of party activists would come to the streets if the Shiv Sena leader was arrested. Mr Goyal instead demanded immediate dismissal and arrest of Maharashtra Home Minister Chhagan Bhujbal for vitiating the atmosphere by getting a case registered against Mr Thackeray. Mr Bhujbal, he said, was making an issue out of the Dasehra speech of the Shiv Sena leader to hide the failures of three years of the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena activists also burnt an effigy of Mr Bhujbal. Party leaders later submitted a memorandum to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, demanding withdrawal of the criminal case against Mr Thackeray and immediate dismissal and arrest of Mr Bhujbal.
UNI |
Sena chief to be arrested ‘if guilty’ SHILLONG:
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on Saturday that the police would arrest Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray if the charge sheet filed against him for his recent statement on Hindu suicide squads carried merit. “The Mumbai police had registered a case against Mr Thackeray for promoting communal disharmony and they will go through the script of his speech and accordingly a charge sheet will be filed”, Mr Bhujbal told reporters here at a press conference.
UNI |
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Judicial
probe sought into Dalits’ killing New Delhi, October 19 AIAWU and SFI leaders, who visited the spot and talked to parents and villagers at Badshapur, also demanded that all culprits of the brutal crime be immediately arrested under Section 302 of the IPC and charged under the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act. The delegation led by AIAWU general secretary and CPM Member of Parliament A. Vijayaraghavan said the parents and villagers gave a different angle of the incident than the official version. According to them, the victims possessed government licence to trade in hides and had been doing their job for years. On October 15 they were transporting hides worth Rs 35,000 from Badshapur to Karnal when policemen stopped them and demanded or bribe of Rs 10,000 and on refusal took them to the police post, they said.
UNI |
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Paswan, others court arrest New Delhi, October 19 Among the party leaders who courted arrest after they were prevented by the police from moving towards the Prime Minister’s residence were Mr Ram Chander Paswan, Mr Arif Mohammed Khan, party Delhi unit chief Lalit Kumar Gautam and Haryana unit president Shamsher Singh Malik. Mr Paswan alleged that contrary to reports that the youths were lynched by a mob, they had died in police custody due to torture.
UNI |
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Troops complete joint exercises in USA New Delhi, October 19 The Indian special forces, who participated in the four-day exercises, for the first time used the US MP4 and their newer version MP5 assault rifles, which fire disintegrating shells and prove to be a powerful weapon against terrorist concentrations. A statement issued here said the exercises, Geronimo Thrust, were conducted at Fort Richardson, Alaska, by troops of 1st battalion of 501 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the US Army and 50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade of the Indian Army. Personnel and aircraft of both countries participated in it along with eight senior Indian Army and Air Force observers. The initial days were used for ground training, equipment
familiarisation, day and night parachute jumps and understanding each other’s techniques and procedures. It was followed by airborne exercises which included insertion of scouts and pathfinders by helicopters and
para-jumps from C-130 and IL-76 transport aircraft. The training concluded with live firing exercises. The Indian contingent was also shown various facilities used for operational training by the US Army. “The joint exercises provided a good opportunity for troops to interact, understand and familiarise themselves with each other’s procedures, weapons and equipment. It was one step towards enhancing inter-operability between the two armies,” the statement said. |
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CPM urges party men to boost development Kolkata, October 19 Mr Biswas also advised the ministers and other institutional heads to stop making the excuse of limited powers and work sincerely to execute the work entrusted to them. He regretted that a tendency had developed even among the ministers and other senior members to neglect work on the plea of limited powers, adding that the party leadership would no more approve of this attitude. We shall now want people to do their best even within their limited authority and speed up the development of the state in various fields, Mr Biswas said. |
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Kalam lays stone of academy Almora, October 19 “Gifted with a wide vision, he was able to appreciate the wonderful variety and scope of expression afforded by different classical and folk dance forms of our country”, he said after laying the foundation stone of the Uday Shankar Academy for Dance and Music here. His greatest contribution was that he took the essence of various dance traditions and techniques and combined them into an integrated new form which was vibrant, novel, a beauty to behold and an elevating experience to comprehend, Mr Kalam said adding that was why he was widely accepted as the father of modern dance in India. Mr Kalam hoped that the academy set up by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Uttarancal Government “acts as a catalyst for sustained rejuvenation of various art forms in our country”.
PTI |
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Trainee pilot charged with creating anthrax scare New Delhi, October 19 Finding it a case fit for trial, Metropolitan Magistrate J.P. Narain charged Vikas Sharma, a resident of Shakarpur in East Delhi, under Section 505 (1) of the IPC for creating “hatred and ill-will towards people of India” through his action. The court set December 7 for recording of prosecution evidence. The alleged incident dates back to October 22, 2001, when customs authorities at the Vancouver International Airport stopped Gurvinder Singh, who was undergoing flight instruction in Canada, with an envelope marked “ANTHRAX” containing a powdery substance. The incident, which happened at a time when the whole world was gripped by fear of terrorists indulging in bio-terrorism, created a panicky situation at the airport with many flights being delayed and some even cancelled. Upon inquiry Gurvinder Singh revealed that the packet was a “gift” from his friend and was to be handed over to Samarjit Cheema under whom Sharma reportedly had his flying classes. Though subsequent tests had proved that the substance was “talcum powder”, Sharma was charged for spreading “rumours” notwithstanding pleas by his lawyer that the charge against him was applicable only for an offence committed in India.
PTI |
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