Jalpaiguri/Darjeeling, Feb 12
The GJM today withdrew its indefinite bandh in the plains after parleys with the Centre's interlocutor, but life in the hills was crippled for the fourth day of the agitation for separate Gorkhaland.

Centre's interlocutor Vijay Madan held talks with GJM president Bimal Gurung and spoke to district magistrates and superintendents of police of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri for a brief on the law and order situation in both the Dooars region and the Darjeeling hills.

Without disclosing what transpired during the meeting held at Kumani, 85 km from Jaipaiguri, Madan told reporters that he would submit his report to the Centre before leaving Kumani.

GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri said after the meeting, that they had decided to withdraw the bandh in Dooars and the padayatra to the plains but the bandh would continue in Darjeeling till their demand for a statehood was met.

The bandh had not had much impact in the plains, police said.

"Our relay hunger strike and other forms of agitations in the Darjeeling hills in support of our demand for Gorkhaland and CBI enquiry into the February 8 police firing at Sipchu will continue," Giri told PTI.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the West Bengal government was ready to hold talks with the GJM leaders provided the outfit eschewed violence.

"The problem in Darjeeling can be sorted out through peaceful political talks and we are ready for that... We cannot compromise with violence," he said at the annual combined parade of West Bengal and Kolkata Police Force in Kolkata.

GJM had announced an indefinite strike on February 9 demanding a CBI inquiry into the Sipchu police firing in which two party supporters were killed and another succumbed to injuries today.

Refusing to return to the negotiation table, if a separate Gorkhaland was not on the agenda, a belligerent Gurung, speaking over phone from Darjeeling last night threatened to intensify the agitation and dared the state government to arrest him.

"If police try to arrest me, the people of the hills will give them a fitting reply. They will virtually put the hills on fire and the state Government will be solely responsible for the consequences," Gurung had said over phone. — PTI

New Delhi, February 12
The Supreme Court Friday lamented that “no government wants a strong judiciary” and this was evident from the measly Budget allocations being made for the judicial system every year in the country.

“This is the commitment for the judiciary,” a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly observed while hearing a petition filed by expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh seeking the apex court’s guidelines for regulating tapping of telephones. The Bench made the comments after being informed by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium that the trial of those who tapped Amar Singh’s phone in 2005 was still pending with Delhi’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) and so far, only one witness had been examined. Upon this, the judges wanted to know the CMM’s workload. The SG said the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate was handling 1,522 cases, including 146 filed by the CBI, 400 by the special cell of Delhi Police and several relating to narcotic drug offences.

The Bench pointed out that the judiciary’s share was a mere 0.25 per cent of the total annual Budget outlay. Cases were piling up in the lower judiciary because of a large number of vacancies remaining unfilled for several years and the woefully inadequate physical infrastructure. The Bench then wanted to know the steps being taken to fill up vacancies of judicial officers at the state level and address infrastructure bottlenecks of the lower judiciary. Additional SG Indira Jaisingh said she would provide the details at the next hearing on February 14.

During the two-hour hearing, the Bench was informed that Amar Singh’s phone was tapped in 2005 not at the instance of any political opponent, but by some persons who were trying to make a quick buck by using intercepted conversations for blackmail.

Chandigarh, February 12
The Army wants to enhance the striking power of its soldiers both on ground as well as underwater. It is looking for a new type of lightweight anti-material rifle (AMR) to neutralise enemy bunkers, vehicles and soft equipment as well as give a lethal punch to combat divers.

In the past few months, the Army has been hunting for latest pistols, multi-caliber rifles, assault rifles and air defence equipment in global markets. It has now issued requests for information (RFI) for evaluating these two types of rifles.

The anti material rifles would be used during convectional and sub-convectional operations to engage light-armoured vehicles, field fortifications and low-flying choppers. The Army has specified that the AMRs, having a caliber of 12.7 mm and higher, must be man-portable by a crew of two (weigh below 15 kg) and able to function in all terrain and climatic conditions in India. The force also wants a minimum effective range of 1,500 meters.

Unlike standard rifles, an AMR is designed for use against military equipment. Similar in appearance to sniper rifles, though much larger and heavier, they use large, high-powered projectiles containing explosives, armour-piercing cores or incendiaries and have a much better range. They can also be used for safely destroying unexploded ordnance.

The Army is already using two variants of the AMR, the Hungarian Gepard GM6 Lynx and the indigenous Ordnance Factory-produced Vidhwansak, which weigh over 17 kgs and 25 kgs, respectively. A few years ago, there was a move to procure the NTW-20 AMR from Denel. Some rifles were even received for trials, but then the firm was black-listed by the government. Thereafter, Ordnance Factory, Tiruchirapalli, in collaboration with the DRDO developed the Vidhwansak, which is reportedly similar to the NTW.

Production of the Vidhwansak began in 2007. The BSF has procured about a 100 of these, with the ITBP also being interested in the weapon. Costing around Rs 10 lakh a piece, its price is said to be one-third of similar weapons available in the global market.

As far as underwater assault rifles are concerned, the Army’s requirements are for 7.62 mm guns capable of being carried by combat divers and brought to operational use immediately after coming out of the water without effecting the functioning of the gun, ammunition or optical sights.

A minimum effective range of 300 meters, 30-round magazine, silencer, tactical light, laser-aiming unit, telescopic sights and the ability to operate in varying temperatures.

BRIEFLY

PM at BrahMos unit
Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday had a first hand knowledge on different stages of the operation of country's prestigious supersonic cruise missile 'BrahMos' during his brief visit to the BrahMos Aerospace unit here. — PTI

ROCK ON: Bryan Adams performs in Mumbai on Saturday. — PTI

Malik leaves Ajmer
AJMER: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik left Ajmer on Friday night following a protest by BJP workers during which a shoe was also flung at him."Malik left the city at around midnight," Ajmer District Collector Manju Rajpal said. — PTI

Jilted ‘lover’ dies
Lucknow: A youth, who shot himself after killing a teenaged girl for refusing his friendship proposal, died in a hospital here on Saturday. Ashish Verma (22), who shot dead Sakshi Singh, a student of Class XI on Friday after the girl allegedly refused his friendship proposal, died in the hospital, officials said. — TNS

Aviation security 
NEW DELHI: Aviation security experts from different countries would gather here on Monday to discuss changing threat perceptions to the sector and review whether aviation security activities were being carried out on the lines recommended by the global aviation body ICAO or not. — TNS