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India sending troops to Sudan in September HC deadline for
congestion-free Capital Mufti meets Sonia
over Cabinet reshuffle
Spotlight on
Rahul Gandhi Laloo turns up at New Delhi Railway Station Former minister
quits BJP |
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Indo-US defence
panel meeting ends Kuldip Nayar
raises domicile issue with EC Fire breaks out
at IOC terminal Modified
anti-collision device for trains Week’s 3rd
train dacoity in Bihar
NHRC seeks
Orissa's reply on woman's disrobing
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India sending troops to Sudan in September New Delhi, June 3 "The major chunk of the troop deployment in Sudan will be from India," said Major- Gen R.P.S. Malhan, Additional Director-General, Staff Duties, while updating the media on India's contribution in UN peacekeeping missions. "We will send 1,500 troops along with some add-ons like hospital staff, two engineering companies," General Malhan said while not revealing the exact deployment positions. Declining to comment on any troop deployment in Iraq, he said a brigade-plus force had been earmarked for deployment for peacekeeping in Iraq under the UN banner. He further stated that the earmarked troops were not sitting idle and were involved in operational duties in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East. "Once they get the go ahead they would need just a few weeks of orientation," General Malhan said. India is the fourth largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations currently with deployment of over 2,800 troops in Lebanon, Eriteria and Ethopia. "India has been present in 16 of the 19 UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. Currently, there are over 1,500 troops in Ethopia-Eritrea and a joint Army-Air Force combine in Congo. Furthermore, we have some observers in other trouble spots in Africa," he said. The UN mission was supposed to commence in July-August this year but now has been postponed till the end of the year, he said, adding that no zone had been selected yet for the Indian complement. General Malhan said Major-Gen Rajender Singh would take over as force commander of the UN Mission in Ethopia and Eritrea from July 2004. |
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HC deadline for congestion-free Capital
New Delhi, June 3 The order came from a Division Bench of Mr Justice Vijender Jain and Mr Justice R.S. Sodhi on a PIL by Pushkar Sood regarding the poor condition of roads in the capital. Expanding the scope of the PIL the court asked the authorities to get into business “on an emergency basis” so that the guidelines were prepared within the stipulated period of four months. “Delhi being the capital city of India and to host Commonwealth Games in 2010, a policy in this regard be evolved on emergency basis”, it said setting the deadline. Besides, the Bench asked the authorities concerned to identify spots here for construction of multi-storeyed parking lots, remove encroachment of footpaths, cancel licenses of drivers involved in accidents, prohibit entry of non-CNG buses from other states and stop commercial activity at stations that fall inside the Outer Ring Road. Directing MCD to repair road cuts across the city before the onset of monsoon, the Bench asked the civic agencies to act against unauthorised use of pavement by auto repair shops, mechanics, car dealers and car accessory dealers. Lamenting the government’s failure to ensure congestion free roads even after construction of several flyovers, the court directed that steps be taken to build multiple-level road system or develope alternative system. The Bench granted four months to the authorities to prepare a scheme for construction terminals at the city’s periphery to stop non-CNG buses coming from other states and ensure that their passengers don’t face trouble. The Bench also sought a comprehensive policy against errant drivers within two months. Directing that the loading and unloading of goods should not be permitted inside Outer Ring Road, the Bench issued a notice to the Northern Railway General Manager and asked him not to allow such activities at Old Delhi, Sarai Rohilla, Kishan Gunj, New Delhi and Sadar Bazar stations. Instead, it asked the activity to be taken to Okhla, Badarpur, Tughlaqabad stations in south, Anand Vihar and Vivek Vihar stations in East, Narela, Holambi Kalan, Badli stations in North, Naglou, Jwalapuri, Mongolpuri stations in West and Bijwasan, Shahbad, Mohammadpur stations in Southwest as it would help decongest the capital. The Bench also sought to prohibit the use of Outer Ring Road by commercial vehicles having more than four wheels.
— PTI |
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Mufti meets Sonia over Cabinet reshuffle New Delhi, June 3 Mr Sayeed, who left for Srinagar today, also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil during his stay in the Capital. AICC sources described Mr Sayeed’s discussions with Ms Gandhi over cabinet reshuffle as “preliminary.” They said a final decision about Cabinet
expansion is likely to be taken in about a fortnight. State Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, who is also in the Capital, is expected to meet Ms Gandhi tomorrow. The Cabinet reshuffle has been necessitated by the election of Mr Lal Singh and Mr Madan Lal Sharma to the Lok Sabha. Mr Sayeed is also facing demands from state Congress leaders for action against the Panthers Party which had put up candidates on most of the seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections. Panthers Party has two Ministers in the coalition government. There were allegations against Forest and Environment Minister Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, who belongs to People’s
Democratic Forum, about “clandestine support” to NC candidate in the Baramulla constituency. Both the PDP and Congress had also contested this seat. Mr Sayeed said yesterday that the United Progressive Alliance government had assured him that it would continue the process of dialogue on Kashmir to find a solution to the problem. |
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Spotlight on Rahul Gandhi New Delhi, June 3 If Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the cynosure of all eyes yesterday, the spotlight was firmly on her son Rahul Gandhi today when he took oath as a Lok Sabha member. There was an air of expectancy in the Lok Sabha well before the Congress party’s heir apparent and a debutant MP from Amethi was called for the swearing in. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with her husband Robert Vadra sat patiently for over an hour in the Speaker’s gallery awaiting Rahul’s turn while Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was seated in the front benches. Dressed in a white kurta pyjama and a tricolour
angavastram, a bespectacled Rahul Gandhi sat in the third row, the same seat which he occupied yesterday. There was a thunderous applause from the Congress benches when Rahul Gandhi walked up to the mike to take his oath in Hindi. Priyanka was seen beaming while Mrs. Gandhi appeared a trifle emotional. Rahul Gandhi was not the only Genext MP to take oath today. Among those who shared the honours included Sachin Pilot, son of late Rajesh Pilot, who has also inherited his father’s constituency Dausa and is the youngest member in this Lok Sabha. Sporting a colourful turban, Sachin got an equally warm applause when he took oath. His mother, Rama Pilot, and wife Sara watched from the gallery meant for distinguished visitors. Similarly, Jatin Prasad, son of late Jitendra Prasad, who has won from his father’s constituency
Shahjahanpur, was among the other political heirs who were sworn in today. There was a special round of applause from Congress members when Jatin took oath with Rahul Gandhi thumping his desk the
loudest. The two were later seen sharing a warm
handshake. Manvendra Singh, former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh’s son, was attired in a traditional dhoti, colourful turban and a Rajasthani scarf for his oath-taking, His wife and mother watched him from the distinguished visitors’ gallery while his father was seated in the Rajya Sabha members’
gallery. Dushyant Singh, another high-profile politician son, was among the others who took their oath of affirmation. His mother, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhra Raje, was not spotted in the galleries. |
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Priyanka
hugs brother New Delhi, June 3 Later, talking to presspersons, she said she was really proud of her brother today. “It was good to see him in the Lok Sabha... I have seen my father and then my mother there and now my brother,” she remarked. Asked how she saw her brother’s future, her one-word response was,
“ujjwal.” And when did she plan to come to Parliament, pat came the reply, “I have just come from there.” |
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Laloo turns
up at New Delhi Railway Station New Delhi, June 3 Yadav entered the station from the Paharganj side and surprised the staff and passengers. He declared that he would travel incognito in trains to lend his ears to the grievances of the passengers. Not satisfied with the cleanliness at the station during his hour-long visit, the Railway Minister instructed officers to step up the cleanliness drive. Mr Yadav’s visit has evoked a mixed response. While some railway employees said that Laloo is the most recognised face of Indian politics and it is impossible for him to travel incognito. Others said that there was nothing new about surprise visits by a Railway Minister. “Surprise inspections have always been part of railway culture. Officers have to fulfil quotas of surprise inspections,” said a senior officer. |
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Former minister quits BJP New Delhi, Jun 3 "There is no use for me to continue in such a party," he said in a statement here today after resigning from the primary membership of the BJP. Mr Barua, who sent his resignation letter to the party President M. Venkaiah Naidu yesterday, said he had "wrongly believed" that the BJP was a right-of-centre political party with some appeal to the Hindus. "In course of time I realised that the BJP was not a political party in the true sense and is not capable of formulating its own ideology.
— PTI |
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Nitish
JD(U) Parliamentary Party leader New Delhi, June 3 Kunwar Sarwaraj Singh and Mr Ajit Kumar Singh have been elected the party general secretary and treasurer, respectively. |
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Karunanidhi turns 81 Chennai, June 3 A large number of DMK workers formed a serpentine queue at the party office here to greet
Karunanidhi personally.
— PTI |
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Indo-US defence panel meeting ends New Delhi, June 3 The meeting of the DPG, the body that gives shape to bilateral defence cooperation, ended with both sides noting the "growing areas of convergence" and a review of the global strategic and security situation. Unlike earlier meetings of the DPG in recent years, the two sides did not identity any new areas of cooperation or announce a schedule for joint exercises by their forces. The meeting, which also reviewed the security situation in South Asia, Afghanistan and Iraq, was marked by an exchange of ideas and proposals "for development of bilateral relations to further strengthen Indo-US defence cooperation", a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said here. "India and the US noted this was the first major bilateral policy dialogue since the new government took over in India," it said. Among the areas of convergence identified by the two sides were democracy, pluralism, and security issues with emphasis on terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and security of sea-lanes. The conclusion to the meeting was quite on the expected lines with the US Under Secretary of Defence Douglas Feith, who led the American side at the talks, having clarified on Tuesday that his country was looking to the new Indian government to "carry forward" bilateral defence ties that had expanded rapidly in the last few years to encompass key areas like missile defence. But the US would be waiting for the new government to assess, "where we are and whether we need to move forward", Douglas Feith had said. He was, however, hopeful that the two countries would move forward on the quartet of issues described as cooperation in civilian use of nuclear technology and space, trade in hi-tech items and missile defence. During the talks, the Indian team led by Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad, made presentations on the country's involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, security and reconstruction in Afghanistan and the status of India-Pakistan relations. The US side briefed the Indian officials on the American missile defence programme, the Proliferation Security Initiative, the US global posture review and updates on Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr Feith also called on Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and National Security Adviser J N Dixit. |
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Kuldip Nayar raises domicile issue with EC New Delhi, June 3 Mr Nayar said today that he had sent a letter to the EC, requesting it to defer the issuance of the notification by a day, which is expected to be issued on June 4, keeping in view the fact that the apex court would take up the matter for further hearing tomorrow. In his public interest litigation (PIL), filed in April, Mr Nayar had challenged the constitutional validity of last year's
amendment to the Representation of People's Act by way of which the mandatory clause that a candidate for the Rajya Sabha election should be a domicile of the state from which he or she intends to contest the election, had been deleted. The court, on April 28, had issued notices to the Union and state governments, seeking their reply to his PIL, which had described the amendment to the Act as violative of the Constitution on the ground that it sought to tamper with its basic structure. He had stated that opening of the gates of the Rajya Sabha for non-domiciles would not only undermine the federalism but reduce the Upper House, which essentially is a Council of States, to a "dumping ground" by political parties for its candidates defeated in the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Nayar had blamed both the Congress and the BJP for joining hands on the issue. He stated that about 75 of the 250 MPs in the Rajya Sabha at present were non-domiciles. He has also challenged the provision of Section 3 of the Act, introducing open-ballot system for the Rajya Sabha elections. |
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Fire breaks out at IOC terminal
Kolkata, June 3 The fire, which started around 6 pm, was raging at petrol tank No. 12, which contained 4,100 kl of oil, IOC sources here said. The sources said according to reports received here, the fire was triggered by a bolt of lightning hitting the tank during a thunderstorm. Fire-fighting was on and the oil from nearby tanks in the terminal was being pumped out to other tanks situated at a distance. The Army was also requisitioned to help douse the blaze, the sources said. An IOC safety team along with DGM (Operation) has rushed to the spot. The sources said the stock of foam at the terminal required to extinguish the fire was adequate. Stocks of foam were being rushed also from Mourigram, Dhanbad and some nearby terminals.
— PTI |
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Modified anti-collision device for trains Mumbai, June 3 Engineers of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd have modified the traffic collision avoidance system
(TCAS) installed in aircraft traversing busy aviation lanes so that trains threatening to crash into one another automatically come to a halt before a disaster. After years of rigorous testing, the anti-collision devices
(ACD) as they are known, will be officially commissioned from this month. More than 460 such devices will be installed on trains, railway stations, level crossings and on dangerous stretches in the 780 km-long Konkan Railway route stretching from Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in Karnataka. According to a KRCL spokesperson, the corporation has spent Rs 35 crore on the project. The device is the brainchild of B.
Rajaram, Chairman and Managing Director, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd, who quickly thought of modifying the TCAS for the Railways after the Khanna disaster. A trained mechanical engineer, he is credited with pushing the device through the corridors of the Railway Ministry even enlisting the offices of former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar for the purpose. According to the
KRCL, the device was first unveiled in 1999 and later extensively tested by the Defense Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO). The anti-collision device is based on the global positioning system. The command and control unit of the ACD fixed in the train picks up signals from the global positioning satellites to decipher details of a locomotive’s movement like latitude, longitude, speed, etc in real time. A radio trans-receiver fitted into the train also sends and receives signals within a radio range of 1.5 km. Konkan Railway sources pointed out that the system was designed to stop trains before they collide into other trains disabled or derailed on the route ahead. Similarly, level crossings left open in error will also cause a train to slow down automatically to a speed of 25 km per hour giving enough time for an alert driver to manually apply the brakes before ramming into vehicles on its path. However, to be effective, the ACDs will have to be installed on all trains and at level crossings. The devices cannot offer protection against cattle that stray onto rail tracks, say sources. As per a decision taken by the Railway Ministry all trains plying on Indian tracks would have to be fitted with the ACDs in the coming years. |
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Week’s 3rd train dacoity in Bihar
Gaya, June 3 Gaya Station Master D N Bhagat told media persons that about five robbers boarded the Howrah-bound train at Anugraha Road Station (Aurangabad) on the Gaya-Mughalsarai section of the East Central Railway last night and went on a looting spree in the running train. When they opened fire, the passengers in the S - 7 sleeper coach resisted them. Shivendra Bahadur Singh of Hardoi (Uttar Pradesh) was killed while 10 others, sustained injuries. The robbers later disconnected the hose-pipe and alighted from the train at Kasta Station near here. The injured passengers were admitted to a hospital here where the condition of three was stated to be critical. An FIR was lodged with the Government Railway Police at the Gaya Station.
— PTI |
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Rare Venus-Sun rendezvous on June 8
Bangalore, June 3 The last passage of Venus across the sun was in 1882. People living in nearly 80 per cent of the area on the Earth can witness the rare spectacle that will last for nearly six hours, starting around 10.45 am. Venus, like a tiny dot, will move across the sun and can be viewed with a special glass. A spokesman for the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti told UNI that the event should not be seen with the naked eye as the rays could cause damage to the eyes. The samiti will organise two special viewing points to enable children to view the rendezvous. It can also provide a clue to the exact distance between the sun and the Earth.
— UNI |
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NHRC seeks Orissa's reply on woman's disrobing New Delhi, June 3 According to the report, the village falls under the jurisdiction of the Brahamanai Tarang police. The report stated that the woman had gone to Sukhi Ekka's house in the village to look for her son when she was dragged into the village street and disrobed by a crowd. According to the report, Sukhi Ekka's family raised a hue and cry mistaking her to be a witch. The crowd even forced her to consume human excreta and later made an attempt to hang her from a tree. The NHRC Chairperson, Justice A.S. Anand said if the allegations were true, they would constitute a serious violation of human rights and an affront to the dignity of woman. |
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