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Allow us to visit Pak before talks with Centre:
Hurriyat
Nation pays homage to Indira
Gandhi
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Bangladesh Foreign Minister arrives
Don’t stray away from
CMP, Left to
govt
Shinde to take over as AP Governor soon
Exit Veerappan, enter
bandits
Uma declined to be BJP Gen Secy: Advani
Khurana denies rift with Vasundhara
Raje
Media can foster goodwill better: Reddy
Tributes paid to Sardar Patel
Farmers’ deadline to govt on
water issue
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Allow us to visit Pak before talks with Centre:
Hurriyat
New Delhi, October 31 The statement comes barely a week ahead of the visit of Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, to Jammu and Kashmir. “We should be allowed to visit Pakistan for talks with the political and separatist leadership there before resuming the third round of talks with India,’’ the Hurriyat (moderate faction) Chairman, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, said. The visit to Pakistan will enhance the possibility of having a fruitful dialogue with the Indian Government, he said. “In Pakistan, we would like to talk to the people and politicians there to discuss how the Kashmir issue can be resolved,’’ he added. The Mirwaiz, who claimed to have met the Pakistan President, Mr Pervez Musharraf, at the Netherlands Capital Amsterdam in September, said the Hurriyat Conference had prepared a roadmap for resolving the Kashmir issue. “We will also discuss the roadmap with the Pakistani leadership. Pakistan is a party to the dispute and there is a section of Kashmiri leadership staying in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. They also need to be consulted before we come to the negotiating table,’’ he added. Mirwaiz Farooq said the proposals suggested by General Musharraf were somewhat similar to the Hurriyat’s roadmap for peace. The separatist leader said the Hurriyat Conference was not shying away from a dialogue with the Centre. “We know Kashmir can be resolved through dialogue and dialogue only,’’ he added. The moderate faction of the Hurriyat has so far held two rounds of talks with the Centre. The first round was held on January 22 and the second on March 27 this year with the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.
— UNI |
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Nation pays homage to Indira
Gandhi
New Delhi, October 31 Leaders exhorted people to rededicate themselves to ideals of the assassinated leader as holding of all-religion prayer meetings and organisation of blood donation camps marked the occasion. Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who was on a wheelchair following an injury to her leg, paid homage to Gandhi at her memorial in the national Capital. Devotional songs and excerpts from Gandhi’s speeches were played on the occasion. In Kerala, floral tributes were paid to the departed leader at a function at the KPCC headquarters with leaders eulogising Gandhi for upholding the unity and integrity of the nation. Blood donation camps were organised in Kolkata and several districts in West Bengal as state Congress leaders recalled Indira Gandhi’s contribution in nation-building. —
PTI |
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B’desh Foreign Minister arrives
New Delhi, October 31 The Indian leadership is certain to raise with Mr Khan the issue of the continuance of terrorist camps on the Bangladeshi soil, a major irritant in New Delhi-Dhaka relations ever since the Begum Khaleda Zia government came to power some three years ago. An important point that the Indian leadership is going to take up with the Bangladeshi minister will be the changing scenario in north-eastern India with ULFA and Bodo separatists expressing their desire to have peace talks with the Centre. "At a time when ULFA and Bodo separatists are interested in talks, the least we expect from a friendly neighbour is that it would not give comfort to these elements and would not do anything to derail the peace process," a senior South Block official told The Tribune today. Mr Khan has insisted on having a meeting with Commerce Minister Kamalnath to ask for more exports from Bangladesh to India. The Indo-Bangla trade is currently close to $ 2 billion but the balance of trade is heavily in favour of India. The Indian exports to Bangladesh are nearly $ 1.8 billion. Dhaka is keen to push its exports to India in readymade garments and certain consumer goods. New Delhi has been interested in buying gas from Bangladesh in view of huge reserves of natural gas in that country. But the issue of possible gas exports from Bangladesh to India has remained tangled in politics as the Begum Khaleda Zia government has not made up its mind on the subject, sources pointed out. The major bone of contention between the two South Asian neighbours has been the continued flourishing of anti-India elements in Bangladesh and the fact that over 200 terrorist camps continue to function from the Bangladeshi soil. Dhaka has consistently denied the existence of terrorist camps on its soil despite the fact that New Delhi has provided to Bangladesh "evidence", including maps and specific locations of these camps, more than a year ago. This issue is going to dominate Mr Khan's talks with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh tomorrow, sources asserted. The Bangladeshi Foreign Minister will be travelling to all other SAARC member states with a formal invitation, sources said. |
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Don’t stray away from CMP, Left to
govt
New Delhi, October 31 CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan while briefing newspersons on the party National Council meeting, which reviewed performance, pointed out mostly to the flaw of the UPA government and where it has strayed away from the National Common Minimum Programme. “As long as the UPA government implements the CMP and works within its framework, it will continue to have the full support and cooperation of the Left,” he added. The four Left parties, which are crucial partners to the UPA government, are supporting it from outside. Suggesting a change of focus towards the rural economy and the agriculture sector, he asserted that the programmes outlined in the CMP to take care of the interests of the rural and other working people “need to be attended on an urgent basis”. “The performance of the government during the past five months has been mixed. The decisions taken are also mixed and on a number of issues flawed. Several of them stray from the path of the CMP. This has compelled the Left to protest, criticise and demand change and correction,” he said. Maintaining that the Left was not being consulted on several issues, he said “our objections or protests have always been in the interests of the toiling masses and in national interests and never out of any narrow or sectarian interests”. Mr Bardhan said the government should now focus on matters like strengthening of the public distribution system, employment generation, redistribution of surplus land, poverty alleviation and relief to farmers. Referring to the mention of land reforms in the CMP, Mr Bardhan said if steps were not taken by
the government to redistribute land identified under the ceiling or ‘bhoodan’ or waste land, “we will be constrained to once again launch a mass movement to occupy such land and redistribute them. The government’s focus has to shift”. He said despite announcement, it was not yet known which 150 districts in the country were identified for launching the food-for-work programme aimed at generating employment. Discussions on the Electricity Act, 2003, which envisages power sector reforms, and the Patents Amendment Bill are yet to take place, the CPI leader said, adding that all these issues would be taken up at the next meeting of the UPA government-Left Coordination Committee in November. He said Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s announcement on allowing foreign banks to pick stake in private Indian banks, besides those on EPF interest rate or FDI in telecom and insurance, had invited sharp criticism from the Left, which had not been consulted on many of these issues. “Wherever and whenever we have been consulted, we have tried to restrain them from taking certain steps”, he said, adding “till they don’t abide by the CMP, the UPA’s credibility will not increase,” he added. On the political front, he asked the secular forces to put up a united front against the communal forces in the coming elections in Bihar and Jharkhand as the BJP, with its renewed zest of Hindutva postures, has been beaten but not broken. “The BJP has been beaten but not broken. The strength of the BJP should not be underestimated. It will amount to a blunder if we do so,” Mr Bardhan said. The BJP’s successive defeats at the Centre and in Maharashtra have shaken up its morale and brought about wide conflicts within its second rung leadership, he said. “Mr Advani has again become the President. The BJP will now adopt a more strident Hindutva line, a more
aggressive communal posture, in the hope of winning back its old position,” he said. The change in leadership means more attack on secular forces, he said and called upon all secular forces to put up a united fight against the BJP and its allies United Janata Dal in the coming Assembly poll in Bihar and Jharkhand. |
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Shinde to take over as AP Governor soon
Mumbai, October 31 “I am going to take over as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh in the next two or three days,” Mr Shinde told reporters here today. Replying to a query, Mr Shinde said he would do whatever the Congress high command assigned him to do. —
UNI |
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Exit Veerappan, enter
bandits
Chennai, October 31 Tamil Nadu Forest Department sources say Veerappan left the forests richer. Estimates say flora and fauna have increased by 15 per cent and there are precious stones too. But with Veerappan dead and the STF of the Tamil Nadu police now inactive bandits are now baying for the forest treasures. Within 10 days they have chopped off 40 sandalwood trees worth over Rs 1 crore from the Thattakarai forests near the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border. Another famous sandalwood tree went missing from Bannariamman Temple inside the forests, hardly 15 km from near Salem. However, state Forest Department officials deny such incidents. One of them said, “We do not have such big sandalwood trees in the Thattakarai forest and no such information has reached us. Perhaps the smugglers took away the roots of trees cut earlier. We will verify.” Another forest official said, “Veerappan had chopped off two lakh sandalwood trees. You do not have any fully grown sandalwood tree in any other part of Tamil Nadu except North Arcot.” But STF officials quote their tribal informants to say that the incident did take place after Veerappan’s death. “We got to know about it only a few days ago. The consignment has already reached a processing factory in Kerala through some middlemen in Coimbatore,” they said. Three decades ago when Veerappan took control of the forests the petty smugglers had the same modus operandi. |
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Uma declined to be BJP Gen Secy: Advani
Ujjain, October 31 "I had offered her the post of General Secretary in the newly constituted body of the BJP, but she said her leave, which she had taken to visit Madhmaheshwar, is still incomplete," party President L.K. Advani told mediapersons here. Ms Bharti is on leave till November-end, Mr Advani said after taking part in the national convention of the Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha. Stating that it was on his request only that Ms Bharti returned from Madhmaheshwar to attend the BJP National Council meeting, Mr Advani added, "Probably she must have gone back to Madhmaheshwar by now." —
PTI |
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Khurana denies rift with Vasundhara
Raje
Jaipur, October 31 “Whatever I am
today, is all due to the blessings of the people of Delhi who made me victorious in as many as 11 elections fought between 1966 and 2003. For me Delhi is a temple and
Delhiites are my gods and goddesses. I am their priest. I am going to Delhi on the call of my conscience to serve my people there,” Mr Khurana added. After the defeat of the BJP in the Assembly poll in Delhi, Mr L.K. Advani wanted him to be a Governor while, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was in favour of inducting him into the Rajya Sabha. He stated that during his tenure as the Governor of Rajasthan, he had promoted spiritual tourism, moral education at the varsity level and conducted religiously the programme of “Garib Sunvai” for the help of the poor and the needy. Talking to newsmen he said after the reshuffle in the BJP at the national level, two key posts in the party were still vacant and he could be considered for one of them. “Asked whether he had any differences with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over “Garib Sunvai”, Mr Khurana quipped: “It was all media hype. Raje herself joined the opening of the programme. Through this programme I have distributed nearly Rs 31 lakh for providing relief to the poor.” Mr Khurana who had taken over as the Governor of Rajasthan on January 14, 2004, expressed his sense of gratitude to the people for their immense affection and cooperation. |
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Media can foster goodwill better: Reddy
New Delhi, October 31 Addressing the second conference of editors and working journalists of the SAARC countries here, Mr Reddy said if Europe could push into oblivion its 500 years of fratricidal wars to emerge as a powerful political and economic grouping, there was no reason why the SAARC countries could not do so. He said the SAARC countries had the opportunities to banish poverty from the region altogether but the politicians were wedded to a “negative mindset” and priorities were wrong. “Our memories of the past keep haunting us and prevent from looking for new opportunities,” he said. Mr Reddy said members of the fourth estate, writers and poets were better than legislators in fostering goodwill.”
In my experience, we politicians are incapable of changing mindsets. Journalists, writers and poets can do it better”, he said. He added that he had advocated at the SAFMA conference, held in the Capital earlier this month, that scribes should be allowed to visit the countries in the region by softening visa procedures. “If this could be agreed to, a lot can be achieved,” he said. He said common languages like English, Urdu and Bangla and a common history united the people of South Asia. |
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Tributes paid to Sardar Patel
New Delhi, October 31 Dr Manmohan Singh paid floral tributes at the portrait of the sagacious statesman and chief architect of a unified and integrated India in the Central Hall of Parliament. Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of State for Water Resources Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav also paid tributes to Sardar Patel. —
UNI |
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Farmers’ deadline to govt on water issue Sriganganagar, October 31 Meanwhile, the meeting held between the state government and the farmers failed last night. The farmers’ leaders are demanding the state to resolve the water crisis or to face the consequences. The meeting, that lasted for over five hours failed to break ice between the two groups. |
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