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Database of firearms centre at Chandigarh
soon MDMK ministers resign
from Vajpayee govt MDMK ministers Gingee N. Ramachandran and M. Kannappan talk to mediapersons outside the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday after tendering their resignations. Cong defeat in MP poll
discussed Indian aircraft overflies Pak with relief |
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Bhutan mounts pressure on rebels to
surrender 11 PWG Naxals surrender Vaiko to consult partymen on seeking bail
Amjad’s charge hurts ‘Kal Ho...’ gets most nominations
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Database of firearms centre at Chandigarh
soon New Delhi, December 30 The ministry has approved a proposal of the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS) under the Research and Development Plan to facilitate a better detection rate in firearm-related crimes. This national-level facility will have the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS), a highly automated computer operated cartridge and a bullet identification system. This facility will help experts track down the characteristics of cartridges from the crime scene and link up with the main system for comparing with the data bank. “This facility will help the experts in counter-terrorism measures and yield quick results as one can easily link up with the inter-state data bank. While the centre at Chandigarh will have the centralised facility, the other states will be networked to the main centre to send firearm-related data for results,” sources said. The creation of this centre is one of the major national-level achievements by the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS). The DFS was created by the Ministry of Home Affairs after bifurcation from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) on the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission and the Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police Reforms last year. The DFS foundation day will be celebrated here tomorrow and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is inaugurating the function. In addition to the training programmes to benefit forensic scientists, police officers, investigators, the DFS also conducts need-based training programmes on DNA, computer forensics, speaker identification, audio-video authentication, brain fingerprinting and analysis for forensic scientists. Besides, revised work manuals on DNA, serology, toxicolgy, narcotics and ballistics are also prepared. The directorate has six laboratories in the country of which three are forensic laboratories and three Government Examiner of Questioned Documents (GEQDs). While the forensic laboratories are situated in Kolkata (biological sciences), Hyderabad (chemical sciences) and Chandigarh (physical sciences), the GEQDs, which were set up to detect white-collar crimes, are situated in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Shimla. The GEQD Centre at Shimla is the second oldest laboratory in the world after Scotland Yard and was established in 1904. |
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MDMK ministers resign
from Vajpayee govt New Delhi, December 30 Mr Kannappan, Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, and Mr Ramachandran, Minister of State for Textiles, met Mr Vajpayee and handed over their resignations, a week after the DMK withdrew from the NDA and pulled out its two ministers from the Centre. Talking to newspersons after meeting Mr Vajpayee, Mr Ramachandran and Mr Kannappan said their party would fight the Lok Sabha elections under a DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu even if it involved joining hands with the Congress. The MDMK leaders said the LTTE issue would not come in the way of any possible alliance with the Congress. The Congress was aware that the MDMK only espoused the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils but was opposed to any LTTE violence on the Indian soil. The MDMK is the fifth party to pull out of the BJP-led government, the earlier ones being the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Mr Ajit Singh, the National Conference, the Lok Janshakti of Mr Ramvilas Paswan and the DMK. The two leaders said DMK supremo M Karunanidhi was the leader of the new alliance and whatever decision he took would be acceptable to the MDMK. “We are trying to strengthen the Dravidian movement and we have floated an alliance under the leadership of Mr Karunanidhi”, Mr Ramachandran said. Asked whether the Congress would form part of the new alliance, Mr Ramachandran said “it is left to Mr Karunanidhi”. The remark of MDMK leader assumes significance as Mr Karunanidhi had said yesterday in Chennai that “there is a place for everyone” in the new alliance against the AIADMK. He had never spoken ill of Congress President Sonia Gandhi or about her foreign origin, Mr Karunanidhi had said. The decision of the MDMK, which has four members in the Lok Sabha, comes in the wake of the BJP’s reported overtures to forge an alliance with the AIADMK. “If the MDMK continued to remain in the NDA, its credibility will be at stake. There was also a need to cement its relationship with the DMK with a view to protecting the Dravidian movement in the state,” a resolution adopted at a high-level meeting of the MDMK in Chennai yesterday said. To a question whether the Prime Minister asked them to reconsider their decision, they said neither the Prime Minister did so nor would they do. “There is no question of reconsidering”, they said. |
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Cong defeat in MP poll
discussed Bhopal, December 30 The two-day meeting (December 29 to 30) had been convened by Mr Yadav to hold a post-mortem examination on the Congress humiliation at the poll and prepare the party for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. A cavalier attitude towards the people’s grievances, the alienation of the grassroots workers and the sabotage by the disgruntled party men were cited as the major reasons behind the Congress humiliation. A Speaker said the party leaders from the state stayed in Delhi, charted a course of action for the workers during election days and asked them to follow it. Quite a few of the speakers were critical of the former Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh (who kept away from the meeting), for relying mostly on his invisible election management skills and neglecting the needs of the people. Bad roads and shortage of electricity coupled with gross mismanagement in distribution turned out to be the last straw. The former Chief Minister had already turned the salaried class against the Congress by his observation that they constituted just 1 per cent of the electorate, forgetting in the process that even though numerically small, this group formed the most potent pressure group. Ms Rajani Shrivastava, who lost the election from Mehgaon, charged the party leadership with encouraging only ‘dalals’ (touts) in the party. Today, she said, there were no workers in the party. |
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Indian aircraft overflies Pak with relief New Delhi, December 30 The aircarft was carrying 25 tonnes of relief supplies, including a mobile hospital, tents and medicines for the people in and around quake-devastated Bam in Iran where over 25,000 persons have been killed. The IL-76 IAF aircraft left at 12.30 pm with five doctors and 60 paramedics on board for Teheran, on way to Bam. IAF spokesman Squadron Leader Mahesh Upasani said here that two more planeloads of relief supplies would be ferried. The assistance would include 10,000 blankets, 1,000 tents, a full complement of doctors to set up a 75-bed mobile hospital along with an operation theatre and medical supplies for four weeks. Separately, 600 tonnes of high-protein biscuits which have reached Bandar Abbas will, for the present, be dispatched to Bam to meet the emergency requirements. The overflight of the IAF IL-76 relief missions has been permitted as a special gesture by Pakistan. An Army spokesman said the relief flights would continue tomorrow also with the IAF aircraft overflying Baluchistan to reach the provincial capital of Kerman directly. |
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Bhutan mounts pressure on rebels to
surrender Guwahati, December 30 “Our strategy now is to put maximum psychological pressure on the militants to make them surrender so that there is no direct confrontation,” a Royal Bhutan Army commander told IANS by telephone from the southern Samdrup Jhongkar district. “Our troops went full blast in the initial days of the operation. Now that the militants are on the run, we are exerting pressure and forcing them to surrender without much bloodshed.” The commander, who requested not to be identified, said “several” rebels had surrendered during the past week. “Exact figures are not available, but we are handing over the surrendered rebels in batches to the Indian authorities,” he said. Bhutan launched the military offensive on December 15 to evict some 3,000 anti-India rebels hiding in about 30 camps inside the largely Buddhist kingdom. Troops have overrun all the camps and reports have suggested that over 140 rebels were killed. Bhutan had earlier said 500 rebels had surrendered to its forces, while Indian officials said they had at least 100 rebels in custody. The rebels have denied any major losses. A Bhutanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the militants were facing “all odds” inside dense jungles in the south of the kingdom where the operation was on. “The weather as such is hostile with Bhutan experiencing snowfall since the weekend. The militants on the run are facing not only the advancing troops but also the biting cold,” the spokesman said. “Supply of food has been cut off and the militants are probably surviving on wild fruit and tubers found in the jungles. We expect them to surrender sooner than later.” The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) corroborated Bhutanese claims that the rebels were facing severe hardship inside the jungles. “The combatants are facing subzero temperature and starvation without any clothes and food,” ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said in a statement. The ULFA has sought safe passage from Beijing to allow its cadres to enter China. “We would like to request you and your people to permit them safe passage to your territory and minimum temporary hospitality necessary for their survival,” Mr Rajkhowa said in a letter addressed to President Hu Jintao on Sunday. Bhutan has released no casualty figures, but the Indian Army, which helps train the Bhutanese forces, said about eight Bhutanese troops and support personnel had died since the offensive started. —
IANS
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Govt will adopt kids of ULFA rebels: Gogoi Guwahati, December 30 Addressing a news conference here he said it was his government’s duty to take care of all 27 children, in the age group of two to 12 years, handed over to them by the Bhutanese Government following operation “All Clear” in which 30 odd rebel camps were destroyed. They are now in a refugee camp near Tamulpur. “We have already issued instructions and will certainly want to see each of them getting proper education so that they can become a good citizen of India.” “It is quite strange how unconcerned the ULFA leaders are. They simply vanished leaving the womenfolk and the children at the hands of the Bhutanese authority. What responsibility do they have for the children? They are being deprived of proper education”, he said. —
UNI |
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11 PWG Naxals surrender
Hyderabad, December 30 Six of the surrendered extremists belonged to the banned People’s War Group, three to the Janasakthi group and two to the Prathhigatana outfit of Warangal, Adilabad, Anantapur and Guntur districts. The People’s War Group Adilabad district committee member, his wife, Karunasree, and other ultras were present at a crowded press conference, addressed by the DGP. “We are disillusioned with the party ideology and activities and therefore decided to come out of the extremist movement,” the Naxalites said, adding that the party was fast loosing its hold over the villagers, who were not cooperating by providing food and shelter. However, some of them said they had left the movement for personal reasons and ill-health. According to Thirupati, who carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his head, the populist schemes of the government like DWACRA, Velugu and Deepam had gained mass support and weaned the people away from the extremist path. —
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Vaiko to consult partymen on seeking bail
Chennai, December 30 "I will consult partymen and lawyers soon on the issue of bail, complying with the affectionate order of DMK leader, M. Karunanidhi", he told reporters outside the POTA court in the suburban Poonamalee, where he was brought from Vellore for remand extension. Last night, Mr Karunanidhi told reporters that he would like to appeal to Vaiko to come out on bail as he had to discharge several responsibilities by being out of the prison. Vaiko said bail petitions had now been filed in the Madras High Court for the release of eight other MDMK men who were also arrested under POTA, about 18 months ago. Replying to a question whether he would appeal to the PMK (which decided to stay with the NDA) to come out of the NDA, Vaiko said Mr Karunanidhi would decide about it. Asked to comment on the BJP national secretary, Mr L. Ganesan's remarks that the MDMK walked out of the NDA because of the compulsions from the DMK, Vaiko said, "There was not even an iota of compulsion from the DMK". —
PTI
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I am not
the kingpin,
says Telgi Bangalore, December 30 “I am not the kingpin,” Telgi told reporters, while being whisked away by the police after his appearance at the second Fast Track Court trying the stamp scam cases. Instead, Telgi pointed his finger at Mohammed Sayeed, another accused, now in custody of the Mumbai police, and declared that he had masterminded the biggest fraud in post-Independence India. Karnataka Stamp Paper Investigation Team Chief R. Sri Kumar said Telgi was “playing games, trying to divert attention.” “Telgi is one of the most important accused, so is Mohammed Sayeed,” he ssid. Mr Sri Kumar revealed that the 52-year-old Mohammed Sayeed had been engaged in circulating fake stamp papers, even before Telgi ventured into the racket. —
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Amjad’s charge hurts Bismillah Khan Kolkata, December 30 “It’s
unfortunate that Amjad has decided not to participate in any “jugalbandi” with me in future but I will wish otherwise, “ the old maestro mutters. The shehnai maestro is shocked that Amjad could accuse him publicly with the allegation that he was much after money now and had forgotten his social commitment. Both participated in a “jugalbandi” at Kolkata’s science city auditorium on the Christmas eve celebrations. But the jugalbandi did not last long and within a few minutes of the the concert, Amjad was seen alone on the stage and Bismillah walking out. Amjad says he himself took the decision to play it alone since he found “the old guy” spoiling his performance. Amjad announced in future he would never participate in any other jugalbandi with Bismillah. Their jugalbandi show at the science city, suddenly came to a
standstill within minutes as Amjad refused to play with him further, alleging that Bismillah was spoiling his show since the organiser had not paid him his dues. Bismillah says the charges were baseless. He feels the “young Amjad” may be obssessed with his frail health which could be a stumbling block for his performances. |
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‘Kal Ho...’ gets most nominations Mumbai, December 30 The awards, presented by weekly film magazine Screen, will be presented on January 15 in Mumbai. The award function will be telecast on January 18 on Star Plus. “Kal Ho Naa Ho” will compete for best film, director (Nikhil Advani), actress (Preity Zinta), music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), supporting cast Saif Ali Khan (male) and Jaya Bachchan (female), editing (Sanjay Sankala), dialogue (Niranjan Iyengar), screenplay (Karan Johar), playback Sonu Nigam, sound recording (Anuj Mathur), choreoghaphy (Farah Khan), art direction (Sharmistha Roy) and cinematography (Anil Mehta). Among other
contenders, comedy hit “Munnabhai MBBS” got nine nominations and Ajay Devgan-starrer “Gangajal” eight. —
UNI |
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New Delhi, December 30
In video (
