 |
| Sunday, March 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
50 Shiv Sena men held IA may resume services to Nepal Ex-GM, MLA chargesheeted in NFL
case 2 held for duping people of crores Pant’s stress on new teaching
ways Jaipur docs devise neonatal care
unit |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Special trains NEW DELHI, March 4 — The Northern Railways will run special trains and increase the capacity of several trains on various routes to clear the extra rush of passengers in summer holidays. 
|
Vananchal within 6 months: BJP RANCHI, March 4 (UNI) — A separate state of Vananchal comprising 18 districts of south Bihar will be created within six months, BJP General Secretary Saryu Rai said here today. Mr Rai told newsmen that the creation of Vananchal and survival of the government in Bihar were different issues. ‘‘Vananchal will be a reality soon,’’ he said adding that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will stand by its commitment. The Bihar state reorganisation Bill, 1999, will be cleared by the state government within the given timeframe. The legislation seeking the creation of Vananchal has to be returned by the state government to the Centre with its opinion latest by march 14. With the formation of the NDA government in Bihar the pro state forces, particularly the Congress and Jharkhand named parties, have become apprehensive regarding its creation as the former has forty members from this region and with the formation of Vananchal the alliance may be pushed to minority in the rest of Bihar. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders in south Bihar today called upon the people to ‘‘expose’’ the Governor for the ‘‘unconstitutional manner’’ in which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was invited to form the next government. Senior RJD leaders Abhay Singh and Jay Singh Yadav, accused the NDA of usurping power ‘‘through backdoor.’ All Bihar Minority Front convener Nematullah described Mr Pande’s decision to invite the NDA as ‘‘yet another attempt by the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh to saffronise Bihar’’. Calling upon the
minority communities to stand against this alleged
conspiracy of the Sangh parivar, he said the RJD, which
always stood for secularism and communal amity, would not
allow the NDA to assume power ‘‘through the
backdoor.’’ |
Centre calls meeting on
Naxalites NEW DELHI, March 4 — The Centre has convened a meeting of the states affected by Left-wing extremism here on Monday to discuss the strategy to deal with the situation. The emergency meeting has been convened by the Union Home Secretary, Mr Kamal Pande, in the wake of recent incident in Madhya Pradesh in which a police party was ambushed by the People’s War Group extremists. Officials in the Home Ministry, which acts as the nodal agency and coordinator among five states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharasthra and Orissa, said the incident on February 20 indicates the "growing desperation of extremists in the face of the pressure being exerted on them by the police forces of the affected states". The government recently acknowledged that of the five states, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have been witnessing some increase in Left-wing extremism. The Centre has also recommended to the Planning Commission, proposals of some of these states which have prepared integrated action plan combining developmental and security related measures. At present, the Centre reimburses half of the security-related expenditure incurred by these states in tackling Left-wing extremism. After the last meeting of the coordination centre held in January, all states were sensitised on the need to observe adequate caution and take pro-active action in order to contain the activities of extremism. The Centre has also mooted the idea of coming up with a surrender policy for Naxalites operating in these states and has asked the affected states to come forward with suggestions. Similar policy is in existence both in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East. Home Ministry officials said that during the recent assembly elections, pro-active intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing and better coordination among central and state government and the police had resulted in less poll violence including in areas affected by Left-wing extremism. In Bihar, where large-scale violence was anticipated from the MCC and PWG, the number of casualties were less than the 1999 parliamentary elections. If in 1999 Lok Sabha poll the casualty figure stood at 191, including 58 deaths, it was 154 this time including 49 deaths, the officials said. Similarly, to check landmine explosions the forces were asked to move on foot instead of vehicles whereas in Orissa, the threat from such extremists was contained effectively, the official said. After the meeting on
Monday, the Centre proposed to hold another meeting to be
chaired by the Union Home Minister which would be
attended by the Chief Ministers of the affected states
either by end of this month or early next month. |
50 Shiv Sena men held NEW DELHI, March 4 (PTI) — Chanting of religious hymns, offering of prayers at Shiva temples and taking of holy dips at sacred rivers marked mahashivratri celebrations across the country today. In Varanasi, over 50 Shiv Saniks were arrested from different parts of the city while trying to violate prohibitory orders and take out a procession to offer "jalabhishek" en-mass at the famous Baba Kashi Vishwanath temple. Long queues of devotees
were seen at Mrityunjaya Mahadeo, Sarang Talb and New
Kashi Vishwanath Temples in the city offering prayers. |
IA may resume services to Nepal NEW DELHI, March 4 (PTI) — Indian Airlines may resume its services to Nepal very soon as New Delhi and Kathmandu are close to reaching an understanding on heightening of security at Tribhuvan Internal Airport there, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta said today. "We want Indian personnel to be stationed at that airport for security checks. Some compromise is being reached on that matter and talks are at an advanced stage," Mr Gupta told reporters in reply to questions. He said the Indian civil Aviation authorities had received Nepalese probe reports on security lapses during the IC-814 hijacking on December 24 last, while Indian teams had also been to Kathmandu and held talks with their Nepalese counterparts. On the creation of a
Civil Aviation security force, Mr Gupta said a
25,000-strong force was being contemplated which would
cost about Rs 500 crore per annum. |
Ex-GM, MLA chargesheeted in NFL case NEW DELHI, March 4 (PTI) — The CBI has chargesheeted National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) former General Manager D.S. Kanwar and a sitting MLA of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for allegedly cheating the NFL of Rs 30 lakh and further attempting to cheat the company of over Rs 6.78 crore from 1993-96. The charge-sheet filed in the court of the Special Judge, Mr Ajit Bharihoke, on Wednesday named Mr Kanwar and the Jammu and Kashmir MLA, Mr Ghulam Rasool Mir, proprietor of a Delhi-based firm M/s Good Friends Agencies (GFA). The CBI has accused Mr Kanwar, who is already facing charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy in the Rs 133-crore urea scam case, of abusing his official position in awarding a contract to Mr Mir’s GFA for handling-cum-general services of the sale of urea in Punjab and Haryana in September 1993. Mr Kanwar allegedly conspired with some NFL officials and Mr Mir to cheat the NFL by awarding this contract at exorbitant rates without inviting tenders and without taking concurrence of finance and management of the NFL, the CBI alleged. The agency further
alleged that Mr Kanwar, in a conspiracy with NFL
Assistant Manager Anil Kumar Sharma and former Deputy
General Manager M.A. Sharma, paid Rs 30 lakh to the GFA
against false bills submitted at the Chandigarh zonal
office despite the fact that it had not fulfilled any of
the obligations. |
2 held for duping people of crores NEW DELHI, March 4 (UNI) —Two brothers, who duped hundreds of people of crores of rupees by luring them to invest in plantation companies, were arrested today by the Delhi police after a search of their hideouts in Chennai. P. Dinakaran and his brother Mahendran Perumal, an ex-captain, who were managing directors of Perutek Service Limited, a non-banking finance company, went underground after collecting crores of rupees from people who had invested in plantation companies and made fixed deposits, the police said here. Earlier, another brother P.K. Perumal, a retired Major, had been arrested from Ahmednagar on February 17 by the Economic Offences wing of the Delhi police. Investors had made a complaint to the police after their post-dated cheques on maturity of the fixed deposits, had been dishonoured. Interrogation of the two
brothers revealed that they had purchased large tracts of
land in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra with
the money stolen from the investors. |
Pant’s stress on new teaching
ways NEW DELHI, March 4 — Over 52,000 students enrolled for various courses at Indira Gandhi National Open University were awarded degrees, diplomas and certificates at the 11th convocation here today. It was held simultaneously at 19 regional centres of the university. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof A.W. Khan, also conferred the degree of doctor of letters (honoris causa) on Prof V.C. Kulandai Swamy, a scientist. Delivering the
convocation address, Mr K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman,
Planning Commission, said with the evolution of new
methodologies in teaching and learning and the
availability of diverse channels for learning and
distance education could be a boon in providing access to
the socially and geographically disadvantaged. |
Jaipur docs devise neonatal care unit JAIPUR, March 4 (UNI) — A new cost-effective neonatal care unit has been developed by two paediatricians here to help bring down the infant mortality rate in the country which ranks among the highest in the world. About 10 lakh newborn babies die annually in the country for want of adequate neonatal medical care which is prohibitively expensive, the two doctors — Sneh Prabha Choudhary and Ashok Pradhan — from the Sawai Man Singh Medical College told a press conference here yesterday. The indigenously devised system to help underweight newborn babies survive would be launched by Rajasthan Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajendra Choudhary tomorrow. The new equipment would
cost Rs 35,000. Each unit can accommodate four infants,
with a running cost of only Rs 300 per month while
imported incubators cost upwards of Rs 1.5 lakh with
operational costs running up to Rs 10,000 per month. |
Special trains NEW DELHI, March 4 (PTI) — The Northern Railways (NR) will run special trains and increase the capacity of several trains on various routes to clear the extra rush of passengers in summer holidays. The passenger capacity will be increased by attaching extra coaches with the popular trains on nominated days from April 10 to July 3, a press note issued by the NR said yesterday. The Shatabdi Express trains between New Delhi and Bhopal, Lucknow, Kalka, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ajmer and Dehradun will be augmented by one chair car coach each, it said. One sleeper class coach
each will be added to the Saryu Yamuna Express, Saheed
Express, Sadbhawna Express, Bikaner-Bandra Ranakpur
Express, Avadh Assam Express and Lohit Express trains,
the statement said. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
