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Govt was involved in Gujarat Bhutan action worth emulating: Sinha |
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Bomb blast in Ahmedabad NCP sans Bhujbal can join NDA, Advani promises Bill banning cow slaughter Cold death toll 216 |
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Srivastav is new DG of IMD Man posing as Sonia’s Snags in pilot training
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Govt was involved in Gujarat riots: Amartya New Delhi, January 1 ‘‘We had this terrible riot in 2002. It started with an arson in which the victims were primarily Hindu ....But then the reaction that followed and the organisation that went with it clearly points to a well-disciplined riot,’’ he said in an interview to be broadcast at 8 pm on New Year’s Day by the BBC World’s ‘‘Asia Today’’ programme where he spoke at length on communalism and the BJP. Though he said a court must adjudicate on allegations of the Gujarat riots being a programme undertaken by the BJP government in the state, Dr Sen said he believed that there was evidence pointing towards the involvement of the state government. ‘‘Well this is a matter which has to be judged by a court. There is considerable evidence that that was the case,’’ he said. Dr Sen, a recipient of the Nobel prize for Economics in 2001, is a columnist and a political commentator. He had earlier criticised the government for its ‘’failure to avert the riots after 58 persons were burnt alive inside a coach of Sabarmati Express.’’ Hailing the tradition of dialogue as essential to the Indian political and cultural tradition, Dr Sen said ‘‘there has been temptation on behalf of at least one part of the Indian polity today to silence people rather than to encourage arguments.’’ He said the BJP had two distinct constituents, a hardline one and a liberal one and the extreme ‘’Hindu position’’ taken by the former was against the Indian ethos. ‘‘The idea of terrifying the minorities rather than encouraging them to speak with a fulsome voice is something which the more extreme wing of the Hindutva movement has been doing,’’ he said. ‘‘I would like to argue that not only is this inh mane, but there is something un-Indian in it too. The BJP has different constituent elements in it. Certainly one part of the BJP is still committed to violence and sectarianism of a very strong kind.’’ He added: ‘‘In general the BJP is not a political party of India with which I feel sympathetic at all, because I see myself as an Indian rather than as a Hindu. It so happens that I come from a Hindu background, just as there are others who come from Muslim or Christian background who also feel as strongly Indian. He also warned against essentialising the Hindu identity above the Indian identity and said,’’ To just take out the Hindu identity and make it a very special thing as compared to all the other things which make India what it is, is basically a mistake, and that applies equally to the moderate as well as to the extreme sections in the BJP. “ Meanwhile, Dr Sen expressed optimism about the latest thaw between India and Pakistan and said, ‘‘In a sense, the BJP is in an ideal position to do the rapprochement. After all it was de Gaulle who could settle Algeria. In some way the BJP is at an advantage.’’ ‘‘The BJP is a natural government to deal with this issue,’’ he opined. On a question about Asian values, he said, “I think there are no uniform Asian values. The idea that pro-dictatorship or pro-authoritarianism is the only kind of Asian values is a mistake. —
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Bhutan action worth emulating: Sinha New Delhi, January 1 Talking to reporters at the airport here before leaving for Islamabad, Mr Sinha said it was in the interest of both countries to see that the ceasefire was a permanent one. “It is a comprehensive ceasefire. It is not limited. From our side it is open-ended...Therefore, it is incumbent upon both India and Pakistan to see that it holds. It will be our hope that both countries continue to work towards making this a lasting one.” Mr Sinha, accompanied by National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, Mr Arun Singh, Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, and senior officials, was seen off at the Delhi airport by Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Munawar Bhatti and senior Indian officials. “We are going (to Pakistan) with a message of brotherhood,” he said. On the question of the possibility of any bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani leaders on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, the Minister said: “There will be meetings. There will be a number of occasions for official meetings and meeting socially. Apart from that there is no other meeting planned.” But he added that as of now “No such meeting has been planned”. On the military action launched by Bhutan to flush out Indian insurgent groups from its territory, Mr Sinha said it was “an example worth emulating” by other SAARC countries. “What Bhutan has done is clearly larger than life as an example before the other SAARC countries” where terrorism takes shelter or terrorists take refuge. |
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Bhutan stops hunt for Indian ultras Kolkata, January 1 But the Royal Bhutan Army will keep a vigil along the Indo-Bhutan border to stop any further infiltration of the Indian militants into Bhutan. The Army headquarters (eastern region) at Fort Williams, Kolkata, which has been laisoning with the Royal Bhutan Army had been told today that there was no need for further flush out operation in Bhutan. Fort Williams sources said the Indian Army, however, would continue to guard Indo-Bhutan border for some time more. A TNS report from New Delhi says that the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen N.C.
Vij, is visiting North-East from today for three days to take stock of the situation following the Bhutanese Government’s action against the insurgent groups based there. This will be the first visit of the Army chief to the region after the action was initiated against the
ULFA, KLO, NDFB insurgents based in the jungles of Bhutan. The Army chief will not only interact with the Commanders of the Army based in the region but would also be calling on the Governor of Assam, Lt-Gen Ajay Singh. General Vij would be given first hand information on the various measures taken by the Army to seal the Indian borders along with Bhutan to ensure that the fleeing insurgents were not able to enter into India. |
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Bomb blast in Ahmedabad Ahmedabad, January 1 The police said the man was injured when the parcel exploded in his hand as he was trying to open it at his shop near the Bapunagar checkpost. The man, who received injuries on his hands and face, has been admitted to hospital and police officials are investigating further, senior officials told PTI. However, there was no tension in the area on account of the blast. The police said preliminary investigations revealed that the victim owned a shop named Arihant Corporation and the parcel lying near an adjacent shop was brought to his notice by a young boy. Meanwhile, officials investigating the blast said that device was a crudely made one. “The parcel bomb was a crudely assembled device and a preliminary probe has revealed the use of locally available substances like gunpowder and iron pipes in making it,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Sector 1) P.C. Thakur said. —
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NCP sans Bhujbal can join NDA, says Thackeray Mumbai, January 1 Every political party tries to
strengthen itself before poll and the NCP’s joining could be an
attempt to strengthen the NDA, Mr Thackeray told reporters here. But
when asked if he would allow Mr Bhujbal to be a part of the proposed
alliance, the Sena chief asserted “it is not possible”. “But
since the NCP is in alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, the
change in the political equations in the state in case the NCP joins
the NDA will have to be discussed with other Sena leaders,” he said. Mr
Thackeray’s statement assumes significance in the wake of his recent
closed-door meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in the
metropolis where the two leaders discussed advancing the Lok Sabha
poll. He admitted that the issue of getting the NCP into the NDA came up during his talks with Mr Advani but the talks remained inconclusive. “I
will have to talk to Uddhav,” the Sena chief said, referring to his
son and executive president of the party. “I will arrive at a
decision after consulting Uddhav and the Sena leaders,” he added.
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Advani promises Bill banning cow slaughter New Delhi, January 1 An assurance to this effect was given by Mr Advani to a delegation of the Akhil Bhartiya Swardaliya Goraksha Samiti, which called on him at his residence. The delegation also handed over a letter by the Shankaracharya Madhavashram seeking ban on cow slaughter and declaration of the revered animal as a “rashtriya prani” (national animal). The Shankaracharya, in his letter, reminded Mr Advani of his commitment to the cause of protection of cows. He further told Mr Advani that the faith of the people in the BJP would be strengthened if the party fulfilled its commitment. In this context, it may be recalled that the Centre failed to introduce the Bill pertaining to imposing ban on cow slaughter in Parliament during the Monsoon session, as the Opposition and the DMK, which has recently moved out of the NDA fold, strongly opposed it. |
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Cold death toll 216
New Delhi, January
1 Uttar Pradesh was the worst affected with the mercury
remaining below 10°C in most parts of the state, where 22 more
persons were reported to have succumbed to severe cold, official
sources said. The state government announced a compensation of Rs
50,000 each to the kin of those who died of cold, even as authorities
distributed blankets to the poor and arranged for roadside bonfires
for the homeless. According to sources, at least six persons had died
of cold in Jharkhand. — PTI |
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Srivastav is new DG of IMD New Delhi, January 1 Dr Srivastav, who assumed charge from him yesterday, is an alumnus of the Benaras Hindu University (BHU). Earlier, he was president of the Commission of Instruments and Methods of Observation of World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). He is a member of the Executive Council of the WMO and also India’s permanent representative with the WMO. —
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Man posing as Sonia’s PA held New Delhi, January 1 Hari Shamsher Singh (35) was nabbed by Crime Branch sleuths after Raj Kishore Bhardwaj approached the police alleging that the accused was intimidating him by posing as Ms Gandhi’s PA, Dependra Pathak DCP (Crime), said. Bhardwaj alleged that Hari Shamsher Singh by posing as Ms Gandhi’s PA intervened in the sale of his property claiming it to be disputed and being in his possession, the DCP said. The accused also allegedly put up a board of ‘Consumer Forum’ on the said commercial property and produced fake papers, the DCP said citing the complaint. The police inquired from the Congress office which denied that any such person was working in any capacity there, he said. During interrogation, the High School dropout told the police that he resorted to such tactic some years ago and had duped several persons. —
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Snags in pilot training Chandigarh, January 1 This has been reaffirmed in Parliament’s latest report on aircraft accidents in the IAF, released last week. It is significant to note that the government has conceded to the observations made earlier by the Parliamentary committee on the poor state of affairs concerning pilot training and aircraft maintenance. Training and maintenance are important aspects of flight safety as a majority of accidents in the IAF are attributed to human error and technical faults. Observing that the operating standards in the IAF were “far from failsafe” the committee had regretted that remedial steps taken by the IAF to check the increasing trend of human error accidents are grossly inadequate. “The lacunae in the training infrastructure and equipment further substantiate that the IAF really has to toil hard to equip and finetune the training system,” the committee had observed. About 40 per cent accidents in the IAF are attributed to human error. These are broadly due to inadequate flying experience, error in skill and judgement and non-compliance of laid down instructions. A pilot is more susceptible to human errors during the initial six years or 600 hours of flying. The committee had also expressed concern that trainee pilots were also deprived of adequate modern training due to lack of suitable synthetic training equipment aids like flight simulators and computer-based training. A number of simulators in the IAF’s inventory were old and unserviciable. The committee had also refuted the IAF’s claim that most accidents attributed to technical defects were due to manufacturing and overhauling agencies like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). After examining material evidence, the committee had observed that aircraft of HAL origin had performed better as compared to those maintained and overhauled by the IAF at its base repair depots. The committee, in its report, has also come down heavily on the Ministry of Defence for its failure to finalise a warranty clause with HAL even eight years after a decision in this regard was taken. The committee regretted that the ministry did not address the issue seriously. Deploring inordinate delay in the assessment and regularisation of losses on accounts of accidents, the committee had noted that finalisation of investigation into accidents had been delayed in most of the cases from periods ranging from four months to two years. A large number of cases were still pending with Air Headquarters. The committee had further observed that the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Board, set up under the Director of Flight Safety to investigate serious accidents, was handicapped due to manpower constraints. It also cited an earlier report that the IAF did not have the required level of expertise into accident investigation. |
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New Delhi, January 1
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