Sunday, June 6, 1999
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Minister's body extricated HYDERABAD, June 5 — Eight bodies, including that of Andhra Pradesh Secondary Education Minister D Venktaramana, were extricated from the first class airconditioned coach of Godavari Express which derailed near Ghanapur station, about 140 km from here, yesterday. BJP defends Army briefing on Kargil HYDERABAD, June 5 —The BJP today defended the Army briefing on the Kargil situation at the party national executive meeting and charged the Opposition with politicising “sensitive issues”. |
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Security tightened in Delhi NEW DELHI, June 5 — Security measures are being tightened at market places, bus terminals, railway stations, cinema houses and other vulnerable areas in the Capital following Thursday’s bomb explosion in the walled city area.
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Pak will prolong
conflict: Cong Resignation of George sought Life term for 2 militants Jetley: Army not harming
environment Hurriyat leader ‘picked
up’ Forest degradation worries
Vajpayee |
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Minister's body extricated HYDERABAD, June 5 (PTI) — Eight bodies, including that of Andhra Pradesh Secondary Education Minister D Venktaramana, were extricated from the first class airconditioned coach of Godavari Express which derailed near Ghanapur station, about 140 km from here, yesterday. Gas cutters were used to gain access into the badly mangled coach and eight bodies retrieved late last night, railway sources said here today. "The track was cleared and certified for traffic and the death toll is eight," a railways spokesman told PTI. Earlier, it was reported from the accident site that three more passengers were believed to be trapped in the coach, but the spokesman confirmed that only eight bodies were found after gaining entry into the compartment. The bodies were handed over to the family members. Mr Venkataramana’s body was taken out late last night and sent to his native Kanchikacherla village in Krishna district where the funeral would be held later in the day. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will attend the funeral. Meanwhile, BJP General Secretary M Venkaiah Naidu today suggested that the Ministry of Railways order an inquiry into the maintenance of tracks in the state in wake of growing train accidents there. Condoling the death of Venkataramana and others in the Godavari Express accident Mr Naidu said, "I suggest that the Centre order any inquiry into the upkeep of railway tracks and its safety". "During the past
two years, there have been a few accidents due to faulty
tracks. This should be looked into," Mr Naidu
demanded. |
| BJP defends Army briefing on
Kargil HYDERABAD, June 5 (PTI) —The BJP today defended the Army briefing on the Kargil situation at the party national executive meeting and charged the Opposition with politicising “sensitive issues”. “There is nothing wrong in service personnel briefing our party meeting. “Defence Minister George Fernandes had only taken the assistance of the Army in briefing us the technical aspects of the Kargil operation”, General Secretary M Venkaiah Naidu said here. Brushing aside allegations that such a briefing was unprecedented and unwarranted in a democracy, Mr Naidu said “we have every right to know what was happening at Kargil and the Defence Minister sought the assistance of officers to explain us better. We had also called for an all party meeting to take stock of the situation”. Charging the opposition parties with trying to take political mileage out of sensitive defence issues, Mr Naidu said “such moves will turn out to be advantageous to the enemy.” Pakistan had opened a new front at Kargil after the situation in Jammu and Kashmir improved with increasing tourist inflows and more militants being killed, he said, adding that the opposition criticism would send wrong signals to Pakistan. Maintaining that India
had gained international acclaim on the Kashmir dispute,
Mr Naidu said, “Pakistan is isolated on the issue
but the display of upturned Delhi-Lahore bus in Delhi
streets was having an adverse impact”. |
AIADMK not averse to TMC inclusion CHENNAI, June 5 (PTI) — The AIADMK today indicated that it was not averse to the inclusion of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) in a possible Congress-AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, saying that it wanted all secular parties to come together to defeat the BJP-DMK combine in the state. “We are not trying to rope in the TMC, but the Congress is trying. In any case, all secular parties should come together to fight the DMK and the BJP,” AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalitha told mediapersons at her party office here. She said the prospects for the Congress-AIADMK alliance to be formalised were very bright, but declined to reveal the details of her “preliminary discussions” with CWC leaders Manmohan Singh and AK Antony on Thursday. Asked if she had raised the issue of the AIADMK seeking a stake in power at the Centre if the Congress formed the government, she said the matter was not discussed. “These things will be taken up only after the election results are known,” Ms Jayalalitha said. Replying to another question, Ms Jayalalitha said she had not laid any pre-conditions for forging alliance with the Congress. Asked if the Congress had been weakened after the expulsion of senior leaders like Mr Sharad Pawar, she said it was a question to be answered by the Congress. Earlier, groups of people joined the AIADMK in her presence after quitting other parties, including the Congress, the DMK, the MDMK and the TMC. Addressing the new entrants, Ms Jayalalitha said the AIADMK was all set to play a major role in the formation of the next government and claimed the front headed by it would sweep all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. “In future, nobody will be able to form a government without the AIADMK playing a major role in it. Our aim is not power alone, but to work for the overthrow of a government that does not have the capacity to defend its territory.” She said any government
that wanted to protect national integration, secularism
and minorities and usher in 33 per cent reservation for
women, and ensure justice for farmers and weavers, it
would require the guidance and assistance of the AIADMK. |
Security tightened in Delhi NEW DELHI, June 5 (PTI) — Security measures are being tightened at market places, bus terminals, railway stations, cinema houses and other vulnerable areas in the Capital following Thursday’s bomb explosion in the walled city area. This was decided at a high-level meeting attended among others by Lt-Governor Vijai Kapoor, Police Commissioner V.N. Singh and other senior officials here today. The meeting reviewed the security measures at important installations in the city. The police chief said patrolling parties were being sensitised and PCR vans had been directed to be more vigilant and alert. He said the railway authorities were being approached to increase the deployment of the Railway Protection Force at railway stations. Special measures were
being taken to sensitise market associations, security
agencies, cinema houses and trade associations to greater
alertness and vigil, specially with regard to
unidentified objects. |
Pak will prolong conflict: Cong NEW DELHI, June 5 (PTI) — Senior Congress Leader K Natwar Singh feels Pakistan would attempt to prolong the conflict in Kargil till September this year. “They want this to continue till September. In September, UN General Assembly is going to meet and Pakistan will raise the issue there”, Mr Singh said while participating in the “Janata ki Adalat” on Star TV to be telecast tomorrow. “According to a release issued by the TV channel, Mr Singh charged the Vajpayee government of “lowering its guard” after signing the Lahore declaration “as they got carried away in euphoria after Lahore”. To a query as to why western powers were supportive of India, he said that the reason was that France and Britain have not allowed Kosovo-Serbia issue to be raised at the Security Council. “If today they allow Kargil issue, demand for taking up Serbia will crop up”. He said the Congress has the right to question as to how the situation reached to this point. “We want them (intruders) to get out fast, but they won’t go out so easily, they are well prepared. They have taken big guns up the hills, built helipads at 15000-16000 feet heights.....” Mr Singh added had Parliament been in session, this would have been debated. “It happens in every democracy. There was a debate on Vietnam in the US Senate ........In 1962, Nehru removed Gen Kaul and Krishna Menon”. He attributed the Kargil flare-up to the fact that Pakistan had become a nuclear power. On Defence Minister George Fernandes, he said he would have been “shown the door” had he been in a Congress government and made comments like he did on Kargil developments. He said this to reporters when asked to comment on the demand of former Prime Minister and Janata Dal Leader I.K. Gujral that Mr Fernandes be removed from the ministry. “Agar woh Congress ki sarkar me mantri hote, to unhe jaldi se jaldi darvaja dikhaya jata (had he been in Congress government, he would have been shown the door as soon as possible),” the Congress leader said. He prefaced the remark by saying that in the first place, Mr Fernandes would have never been made a minister in a Congress government. At the outset, he said
that it was for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to
decide as to how competent his minister was. “If the
Prime Minister feels that he is competent, then we have
nothing to say,” he said. |
Resignation of George sought NEW DELHI, June 5 — The Coordination Committee of Jammu and Kashmir Leaders and Intellectuals has demanded the resignation of the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, “in the interest of nation’s security.” Addressing a seminar on the “Kargil situation” in the capital here today, the convener of the coordination committee, Mr Bhim Singh, said “this is unfortunate that the Defence Minister has been pleading that the ISI and the Pakistan Government are not guilty though the ISI has been involved in causing death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir to destabilise the country.” “We would like to
call upon the Pakistani rulers to withdraw the armed
mercenaries in the interest of peace in the
subcontinent,” he said. |
Life term for 2 militants NEW DELHI, June 5 — A Delhi court has sentenced two Kashmir militants to life imprisonment and fined them Rs 10,500 each in connection with a blast which claimed several lives in the Capital in 1991. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) D S Pawaria yesterday convicted Mohd Ayubdhar and Mohd Tahir and sentenced them to life imprisonment under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act. The two were arrested in
May, 1991 from Vandana Hotel, Paharganj by a special team
of the Delhi police. |
Jetley: Army not harming
environment NEW DELHI, June 5 — The Indian Army is environment-friendly and it is a misconception that the armed forces damage the natural environment around them, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen S.K. Jetley said. “In fact the life of a soldier depends on the natural vegetation around him,” Lt-General Jetley said while speaking at a discussion organised by Sanctuary magazine on “Environmental protection: Patriotism in Action; the role of the armed forces” in the Capital on the eve of the World Environment Day. Lt-General Jetley said
in war damage to the environment could not be helped, but
during peace time, the Army lived in harmony with nature.
The greenery in cantonments across the country bore
testimony to this and even firing ranges had more
vegetation cover than adjoining areas. |
Hurriyat leader ‘picked
up’ NEW DELHI, June 5 — The All Party Hurriyat Conference today alleged that one of its leader, G.M. Butt, was picked up by government sleuths in plainclothes from the Capital. A press release, issued
by the APHC’s Kashmir Awareness Bureau (KAB) in the
Capital, said that Mr G.M. Butt, the Deputy Chief of the
KAB, was picked up by government sleuths on the road to
the domestic terminal near Gurgaon road crossing. |
Forest degradation worries
Vajpayee NEW DELHI, June 5- The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today stressed the need for immediate and radical changes in the international financial and trading systems related to environment as developing countries were the main sufferers of environmental degradation caused by the rich nations. “If rich nations continue to put unrelenting pressure on our planet’s limited and non-renewable resources, and if the present glaring imbalances in global economic growth continue, damage to the environment will be universal”, the Prime Minister said on the occasion of World Environment Day. Stressing that “the poor have to pay a heavier price for the guilt of the rich”, Mr Vajpayee said industrialised nations could not absolve themselves of their far greater contribution to the present environmental degradation. Mr Vajpayee urged the domestic industry to voluntarily comply with the environment laws without waiting for the Government or judiciary to act. He said investment in environment-friendly technologies should not be considered a burden. India would, however, not allow any delay in genuine developmental projects in the name of protecting the environment, Mr Vajpayee said. Stating that neglect of environment while going ahead with industrialisation and urbanisation has been one of the greatest failures of the country in the past 50 years, Mr Vajpayee said “unless we make amends soon, we will be guilty of making future generations victims of environmental and human catastrophe”. Launching an action plan
to achieve 33 per cent forest cover in the country and a
scheme to augment bamboo resources, the Prime Minister
said despite conservation and protection of environment
being the cornerstone of Indian ethos and culture, many
of our cities were among the most polluted in the world. |
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| Bhatia’s charge
against Chief Secy PUNE: Soon after openly feuding with the elected representatives of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia has now taken up cudgels against state Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar. A five-page document, allegedly an FIR filed by Mr Bhatia at the Deccan Gymkhana police here against Mr Bongirwar, was circulated to the press on Friday by the office of the Municipal Commissioner. The document charges the Chief Secretary with illegally approving contracts worth Rs 2 crore for road construction while serving as Municipal Commissioner. — UNI Freedom fighter passes
away NBA satyagraha
from June 20 40 pilots pass
instructors exam Bodies found Ultras extending
bases Two die in
Mumbai fire SP leader joins
Cong |
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