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Advani a threat to peace, says
Pranab
Army unveils new war
doctrine
2 Muslim clerics killed in UP, curfew
imposed
Dacoits kills 13 in
MP
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Newspaper employees seek setting up of new wage
board
Members of the All-India Newspaper Employees Federation from Delhi and Chandigarh demonstrate at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding a new wage board, on Friday.
— Tribune photo Last rites of
three farmers performed
BJP condemns revival of IMDT Act
Honour for Yogi sought
Trace missing girl, NCW tells
CM
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Advani a threat to peace, says
Pranab
Kolkata, October 29 He said the Centre would not allow the BJP and the VHP to play a political game once again and try to divide the country. He said the decision to construct Ram Temple or rebuild the mosque at Ayodhya should be based on a formula acceptable to both the communities. The Defence Minister reiterated that a joint operation with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal against the terrorists as suggested by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, would solve the problem of terrorism in India and the entire region to a large extent. Mr Mukherjee was talking to the mediapersons at the Congress(l) Bhavan after a closed-door meeting with party leaders. Incidentally, the Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had already welcomed the decision and had agreed to co-operate with the Centre in this regard. But some
CPI(M) leaders feared that the step could hurt the country’s minority community which would sen a wrong signal to the people. However, the Tripura Chief Minister, Mr Manick
Sarker, had endorsed Mr Bhattacharjee’s stand. The Defence Minister said the Centre had negotiated with the Myanmar and the Nepal governments in connection with the extremist problem in the region and further discussions in this regard would be held soon. The government will once again raise the demand of destroying terrorist camps in Bangladesh during the visit of that country’s Foreign Minister to Delhi on October 31. Mr Mukherjee, who is also WBPCC(l) chief, advised the party leaders and workers to prepare themselves to launch a massive movement against the BJP and other communal forces which were trying to ruin the country in the name of Ayodhya movement. Party workers were also told to start an agitation to protest against the CPI(M) misrule and misuse of official power. The
WBPCC(l) chief said there was no proposal to organise Ms Sonia Gandhi’s public meeting in Kolkata during her brief visit in the city on November 6. She will attend a private function there. But Ms Gandhi will certainly meet the
WBPCC(l) leaders and workers and discuss the party’s stand against there, he added. |
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Army unveils new war
doctrine
New Delhi, October 29 Besides, the troops would have to fight in the backdrop of terrorism. The new military doctrine was factored to deal with all these exigencies, he added. Although, he did not talk about the new operational doctrine or future deployments, he explained the three-pronged strategy to grapple with the menace of terrorism. He, however, said that the nuclear arsenal with the countries could be seen as "weapons of war." "We don't think of nuclear weapons as tools of war. There is no ambiguity as regards our nuclear policy, which is reactive and caters to meet the ground situation," the Army Chief said. To questions about Pakistani leaders claiming the availability of a more powerful nuclear punch, General Vij said "We have taken into consideration all talks and claims about nuclear weapons going on in the region". "Terrorism was discussed at length in the conference. The first step is curbing infiltration, the second is eliminating terrorist elements in the hinterland, and the third and the most important is winning the hearts and minds of the people," the Army chief said. Asked how the organisational and structural changes mentioned in the new doctrine translated "on the ground," General Vij said that it was not possible for him to go into much detail. "It suffices to say that the measures in the doctrine have a direct implication on what we can do and changes have been affected accordingly," he said. However, stressing the importance of network-centric warfare, he said a couple of changes had been made to incorporate it. "In the last conference, we had made one of the deputy chiefs responsible for information systems, changing his designation from DCOAS (training and coordination) to DCOAS (information system and training). Now, we have also decided to appoint an officer of the rank of Major-General in the Military Operations Directorate as Additional Director-General (Information Warfare). Likewise, officers with similar responsibilities will be posted in the different commands," he said. "We have released the doctrine today. It is in two parts. The first, which will be circulated widely incorporates the changed operational scenario, the impact of terrorism, organisational and structural changes to meet the challenges of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and network-centric warfare and joint operations," the Army chief said. "The second part is classified," he added. Speaking about the concept of joint operations, the Army chief said it was a "known thing" and there was nothing new in it. "Joint operations assume importance in the sort of warfare we can expect to see. There are times when the Army and the Navy have to work jointly and so on," he said, adding that the Indian defence forces have gone in joint operations whenever needed. The Army chief refuted claims that there had been a problem about which service was to head a particular joint operation. |
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2 Muslim clerics killed in UP, curfew
imposed
Lucknow, October 29 According to SP Jalaun Amitabh Yash, the problem started soon after the 'fajir' namaz around dawn on Friday. When Pesh Imam Maulana Fahim Ghauri left the Jama Masjid he was shot down at a deserted place in Bajaria. His supporters immediately set fire to the house of his rival Maulana Bashir Qadri. While Qadri died on the spot, his son was rushed to the District Hospital in a critical condition. Both groups have lodged FIRs against each other in the Kotwali police station. Curfew has been imposed in the town to prevent the trouble from spreading. Control over a piece of land next to the mosque in the commercial marketplace of Bajaria is believed to be the cause of the dispute between the rival groups that is now being disguised as a disagreement between the Barelvi and Deobandi religious sects. According to a resident of the area, clashes over possession of the land have frequently occurred in the recent past. There was also a clash over performing the 'taravi namaz' of Ramzan in the land last week. Matters came to a head and the mosque had to be locked for some time. |
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Dacoits kills 13 in
MP
Bhopal, October 29 The dacoits struck a little before noon at Bhanwarura village that falls under the Ghatigaon police station of Gwalior district. The village is inhabited mostly by Gujars. Never before had the dacoits killed so many people in a single incident in Madhya Pradesh. Shiv Kumar Gujar, a resident of the village, was said to have challenged members of the Gadaria gang and fired at them as they were passing by the village some time ago. Today's massacre was said to be the gang's reply to that assault. Preliminary reports said the villagers were grazing their cattle around the village when the dacoits, numbering seven or eight, asked them to assemble at one place. Then they opened fire indiscriminately and escaped to the forests. Senior police officials from Gwalior reached the spot and were said to be combing the area in search of the dacoits. Minister of State for Home Jagdish Deora and Director-General of Police S.K.Das have also rushed to the incident site. Responsible for over a dozen killings and numerous kidnappings, Rambabu Gadaria carries a reward of Rs 2.5 lakh on his head. He operates mostly in Gwalior and Shivpuri districts. |
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Newspaper employees seek setting up of new wage
board
New Delhi, October 29 In a memorandum, submitted to Union Labour Minister Sis Ram Ola here today at Shram Shakti Bhavan, the union representatives demanded to set up the wage board besides seeking government's intervention for the restoration of the services of 362 regular employees of Hindustan Times, New Delhi, who have been "arbitrarily and illegally" terminated recently by the newspaper management. Mr Anil Gupta, general secretary, The Tribune Employees Union, said, "Setting up of the wage board is over due. The last board was constituted by the government under the Working Journalists Act in April 1994 under Justice Manisana Singh, whose recommendations became effective from April 1,1998. Earlier, Justice Palekar, former chairman of the Wage Board, had recommended setting up of wage boards every five years." He added that the government should set up the board at the earliest, since the Working Journalists Act also categorically provide for setting up of periodic wage boards. The employees who staged a rally here under the banner of the Delhi State Newspaper Employees Federation, UNI and PTI Employees Union and other unions, also demanded government's intervention "for immediate justice for the employees of The Patriot newspaper, who have not been paid their dues for years after the closure of the newspaper." Arguing for the setting up the board, the union representatives pointed out that the cost of living index that was 1813 in 1998 had shot up to 2485 by March 2004, but the salaries of the employees had not been revised. Further, they said, most of the newspapers had started publishing multiple editions, besides increasing the number of pages leading to increase in their revenue. Therefore, delay in setting up the wage board was denying the justice to working journalists and other newspaper employees. "All newspapers have also started using latest technology in pushing their circulation with promotional events being lavishly organised with exorbitant expenditure. The only component unaffected by this boom in newspaper industry is the employees, journalists and non-journalists working under wage board," stated the memorandum. The Union leaders urged the Labour Minister to press upon the government to immediately set up the wage board besides settling the issue of termination of Hindustan Times employees and settlement of dues of The Patriot newspaper. |
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Last rites of
three farmers performed Sriganganagar,
October 29 Body of Mangi Lal was laid to rest as per the Bishnoi community rituals on the school campus of his Rawala village while the family members of Raj Kumar and Kalu Singh cremated the body. After the cremation, the District Administration today relaxed the curfew in Rawala and Gharsana villages in the evening, while residents of Anoopgarh moved out of their houses after the curfew in the area was relaxed this morning. However, no untoward incident was reported from the affected areas. The Deputy Inquiry Committee constituted by the Chief Minister, Ms Vasundhraraje Scindia, was successful in making the agitating families of the deceased agree upon performing last rites. The committee members had a tough time but ultimately succeeded after long sessions of meeting with the farmers in Rawala village. While family members of Jetha Ram cremated the body yesterday, the families of other three refused to do so. They were demanding an action against those responsible for the incident. This morning, fearing violence, the administration clamped curfew in Srivijaynagar this morning. Meanwhile, the committee members including the state PWD Minister, Mr Rajinder Singh Rathi, the Irrigation Minister and Mr Sawar Lal Jat agreed upon the demand of the agitating families to take legal action against the accused. Mr Ladhu Ram Bishnoi also met the villagers to ease out the situation in the area. The Community Liasioning Committee (CLG) has constituted a peace committee for Gharsana village which will have 21 members to bring back the normalcy in the area. The police sources said that the forces had been put on high alert in the adjoining districts including Bikaner, to tackle any adverse situation. The government has assured to give one murabba of land each to the families of the victims and has assured a government job to one member of the family. |
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BJP condemns revival of IMDT Act
New Delhi, October 29 BJP spokesperson M.A. Naqvi regretted that by rescinding the Vajpayee government's decision to repeal the IMDT Act and reviving the same, the Manmohan Singh government was "only trying to promote its own political interests so as to keep intact the votes of illegal Bangladeshi migrants". He pointed out that the previous government had presented an alternative Bill in Parliament to substitute the Act to meet the threat of illegal infiltration. |
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Honour for Yogi sought
New Delhi, October 29 In a letter to Minister of State for Non-Resident Indians’ Affairs Jagdish Tytler, he said Yogi Bhajan, as he was popularly known, had established a chain of 200 yoga ashrams during his 35 years of stay in the USA, besides Europe and South America, which benefited a large number of people. Thousands of Americans had converted into Sikhism through these centres and no other person from India had been able to depict the country in the West like him, Mr Tarlochan Singh said, adding that top dignitaries from India and abroad had condoled his death. Mr Tarlochan Singh, who was in the USA for a memorial service for Yogi Bhajan, said the state government of New Mexico had declared a three-day official mourning in his honour. |
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Trace missing girl, NCW tells
CM
New Delhi, October 29 Dr Advani said the girl from Bans village in Mehrauli was kidnapped in the presence of her mother and sister on October 23 in Delhi. |
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New Delhi, October 29
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