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BJP to launch nationwide stir against UPA
govt
Kashmiri Pandits seek ‘separate homeland’
CCS clears agenda for Indo-Pak
talks
Natwar’s first bilateral visit to Arab
world
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PM against coercive measures to control
population
Zaheera Sheikh excommunicated
Railways to introduce luxury train
NHRC issues notice to UP
Government
Mobile phones, TV sets, liquor seized from Purnea
jail
President greets people on
Christmas
Vajpayee turns 80 today
IIT student granted bail
HC order on Army men on CL
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BJP to launch nationwide stir against UPA
govt
New Delhi, December 24 Launching a scathing attack on the Congress-led UPA government, former BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu and former Union Rural Development Minister during the NDA regime said, “the Employment Guarantee Bill is a mockery on the poor people of India. It is in fact a great betrayal.” A diluted version of the Bill was introduced on the last day of the winter session, now it can only be taken up in the budget session. This means that even if, the Bill is approved in the budget session, one year would be lost, he said. He said the Bill in its present form suffered from a series of drawbacks. “There is no time-bound extension of the Act. The government’s inequality towards all areas of the country is apparent, as only 150 districts have been selected,” Mr Naidu said. Mr Naidu described the Bill as only an extension of the employment scheme, Swaranjayanti Swarozgar Yojana, and “stinks of governmental inexperience and lack of awareness of the ground situation.” “The BJP is concerned about the callousness with which the UPA government is taking the Employment Guarantee Act and the Indian people for a ride,” Mr Naidu said. He said about Rs 40,000 crore was needed to implement the provisions of the Bill nationwide and this was nowhere to be found. “The Centre is off-loading the responsibility on the states, and the states are in no position to take the responsibility in the absence of funds. As usual the Left is content with critical sound bytes,” Mr Naidu said. Seeking to give a political twist to the Bill, he said normally bills introduced are referred to Parliament Standing Committee but this one was being sent to Parliament Select Committee. This was because the Standing Committee of Rural Development was chaired by the BJP leader Mr Kalyan Singh, Mr Naidu said. |
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Kashmiri Pandits seek ‘separate homeland’
New Delhi, December 24 “We are going to press the government to recognise our rights and provide us with land in Kashmir, which can be our homeland and will facilitate the return of over 7 Lakh Pandits to the valley”, said the President of the Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi, Mr Sunil Shakdher. Representatives of the community living abroad are supporting the call for a ‘separate homeland’. “The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in 1990 was not the first time, similar incidents have happened at least seven times in the not so distant past. What we want now is a homeland that assures us safety of life and honour”, Mr Sanjay Kaul, President of the Kashmir Overseas Association, USA, told The Tribune. The resolution calls for the setting up of a Union Territory within the boundaries of the state, which would be run in accordance with the constitution of India. “There were will be no Article 370 and we want the people of India to have access to Srinagar and also the provision to stay. The government will have to set up the state machinery for us, because we do not recognise the Mufti Sayeed government in the state”, said Mr Shakdher. Claiming that the movement for a separate homeland is being supported by various organisations that had been representing the community, including the Panun Kashmir movement, it was pointed out that the “momentum for ensuring the success of the movement has already been set”. “We have identified the portion of land from the Banihal tunnel till the north-west of the Jhelum, which will be conducive to sustain the population. The government should now start talking with us on the issue. We also want the government to issue a white paper on the talks it has with Pakistan”, Mr Shakdher said. Doing their bit for the movement the representatives from abroad have announced plans to “create awareness among the foreigners especially the media about the human rights violation of the Pandits”, Mr Kaul said. “We are already talking to the press and the Senators, we want them to know the real picture of Kashmir and the sufferings of the displaced people”, he added. The conference which will conclude here tomorrow is being attended by representatives of various organisations from across the country and abroad. |
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CCS clears agenda for Indo-Pak
talks
New Delhi, December 24 The committee, Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended among others by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also approved the agenda for the Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan slated to be held in Islamabad next week. This was stated by Mr Mukherjee after the CCS meeting. Besides reviewing the progress in the talks on various issues, the Foreign Secretaries would discuss peace and security, CBMs (confidence building measures) and the Jammu and Kashmir issue, sources said. They would also fix the schedule for official-level talks on issues like Siachen, Wullar barrage, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation and promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields. |
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Natwar’s first bilateral visit to Arab
world
New Delhi, December 24 In Oman, Mr Natwar Singh will hold discussions with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, Oil and Gas and Defence and would also sign extradition treaty and an MoU on audit cooperation. He will lay the foundation stone for Indian Embassy’s building in the diplomatic area in Muscat and meet Indian community. Mr Natwar Singh is carrying a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Sultan of Oman. India maintains traditionally close relations with Oman, which have acquired new dimensions in recent years. The $1 billion Oman-India fertiliser factory, which is the largest overseas Indian joint venture, is nearing completion and is expected to commence production next year. Nearly 4,00,000 Indians live in Oman. The year 2005 marks the 50th year of India’s diplomatic presence in Oman and year-long joint celebrations are planned in a befitting manner. India is a preferred destination for many Omani nationals for healthcare, higher education and tourism. Mr Natwar Singh’s visit to UAE is significant, taking place within two months of the new leadership assuming office in Abu Dhabi on the death of former President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al
Nahyan, and will enable India to establish contacts and have a dialogue with the new UAE leadership. |
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PM against coercive measures to control
population
New Delhi, December 24 The delegation included Chairperson of the Centre for Women’s Development Studies Vina Mazumdar, All-India Democratic Women’s Association General Secretary Brinda Karat, Ms Razia Ismail Abbasi of the India Alliance for Child Rights, Prof Mohan Rao of the Centre for Community Health and Social Medicine, JNU, and Dr Sabu George of the CWDS. The members presented him a memorandum and a research study showing the consequences of the imposition of the two-child norm at the panchayat level. Expressing apprehension that the proposed mission of the Department of Health and Family Welfare could pursue a population control agenda to sterlise women, the delegation shared with Dr Manmohan Singh data and maps demonstrating the spreading problem of missing girls, evident in the declining child sex ratio. The outcome of population control efforts in China were also evaluated. Instead of the target districts of the Rural Health Mission being selected on the basis of high fertility, the members suggested that the selection should be done on the basis of worst decline in child sex ratios, high infant mortality and female literacy rates. |
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Zaheera Sheikh excommunicated
Bhopal, December 24 Zaheera was declared ‘munafiq’ (dissembler) and ousted her from the Muslim community,” Committee Chairman Ousaf Shahmiri Khurram said. “The decision to outcast Zaheera from the Muslim community was taken unanimously, in view of Tehelka newspaper expose, at a maeting of over 500 representatives from different
organisations, including Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Yaseen Usmani and Ulema Council member Maulana Abdul
Sattar,” Khurram said. “It was found that Zaheera had been acting against preachings of Quran by continuously making false statements about the Best Bakery carnage case,” he said adding “her actions had tarnished the image of Muslims before the people of this country.” —
PTI |
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Railways to introduce luxury train
New Delhi, December 24 The train will cover a distance of 2,155 km
on the Bangalore-Mysore-Hasan-Hospet-Gadag-Londa- Madgaon-Bangalore sector and will have 18 coaches, including 11 air-conditioned saloon cars, one air-conditioned bar car, one conference car, one air-conditioned restaurant car, one staff car and two power cars. During the peak season, the tariff per night
per person for foreign tourists will be $300
and for Indian tourists
Rs 11,640. During the off season, the tariff for foreign tourists will be $200 per night per person and Indian tourist Rs 7,760. |
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NHRC issues notice to UP
Government
New Delhi, December 24 The commission has asked the Chief Secretary and Uttar Pradesh Director-General of Police to look into a newsitem published yesterday that said the Uttar Pradesh police humiliated young boys and girls in Aligarh’s cyber cafes. It reported that when a teenaged girl resisted, the policemen threatened her. The newspaper quoted an Aligarh lawyer, particularly incensed by the intrusive TV cameras, as saying that “while the law restricts the media from using pictures and real names of even those arrested on the charges of prostitution, a police officer in this case held a teenaged girl by her hair and forced her to look into camera.” |
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Mobile phones, TV sets, liquor seized from Purnea
jail
Purnea, December 24 Alarmed by reports that some prohibited articles were being supplied to dreaded criminals in the jail, a police team raided the jail and recovered cash, cellphones, TV sets and liquor, Purnea District Magistrate Pankaj Kumar told PTI. The articles were recovered from notorious gangsters, including the North Liberation Army supremo Shankar Singh and his accomplice Banti Singh, besides some other undertrials. Altogether seven cellular phone sets, three colour TVs, Rs 75,000 in cash and several bottles of liquor were seized, he said. According to official sources, the district authorities were planning to shift some dreaded criminals lodged at Purnia jail to some other prison after the seizure. When contacted, Inspector General (Jails) Deepak Kumar Singh told PTI in Patna that any action against the officials of the jail will be taken only after receiving the report of the District Magistrate. The Bihar jail administration has been in the line of fire of the Patna High Court recently in the wake of complaints about jail inmates running kidnapping and extortion rackets from behind the bars.—PTI |
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President greets people on
Christmas
New Delhi, December 24 “I convey my warm greetings to all people of India,” he said. Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat also greeted the people on the joyous occasion, telling them to rededicate themselves to the essence of Jesus Christ’s teachings, which, he said, had the power to transform lives. “Jesus Christ showed us the path of love, compassion, tolerance, peace and righteousness, which shaped our spiritual consciousness. In our troubled times, his enlightened teachings are a beacon of hope to the mankind”, he added. |
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Vajpayee turns 80 today
New Delhi, December 24 For the grand old patriarch of Indian politics, who bowed out of power after a stunning defeat of his party in the Lok Sabha poll, it may not be the best of brithdays as he would be celebrating it in the shadow of the death of his close friend and another former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Except for the inauguration of a fair, the celebrations are expected to be a low-key affair on account of the state mourning following Mr Rao’s death. |
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IIT student granted bail
New Delhi, December 24 The bail was ordered by Additional Sessions Judge Aruna Suresh on furnishing a bail bond and two sureties of Rs 50,000 each. The
Judge further asked the accused, arrested on December 14, to surrender his passport, if any, and not to leave the country without prior permission from the court. |
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HC order on Army men on CL
New Delhi, December 24 A bench of Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Gita Mittal ordered the Army to pay disability pension at 50 per cent to Jai Bhagwan of the Corps of Engineers, who met with an accident on August 20, 1994 while he was returning to resume duty after expiry of casual leave. Bhagwan was thrown out of job in August 1996 on the ground of disability and Army authorities also rejected his plea for grant of disability pension. |
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In video: A temple in the name of
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