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| Tuesday, November 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Papers on CJI’s age: SC orders CBI probe Paswan to float new party today Krishna meets PM, Advani
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No decision on
foreign journals yet: Sushma Militancy: Centre writes to Marandi Jagmohan orders probe into encroachment BJP loses 3 Mayors’ seats in UP Militants will focus on soft targets: BSF Iraqi Vice-President in Delhi I-cards for Bengal rhinos St Mary’s nuns
robbed
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Papers on CJI’s age: SC orders CBI probe NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — A Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice R.P. Sethi today ordered a CBI probe into the veracity of documents showing different versions of the age of the Chief Justice of India, (CJI), Dr Adarsh Sein Anand. The judges, however, clarified that the CBI would not go into the question relating to the date of birth of the CJI, November 1, 1936. They said the President, who was the sole authority to determine the date of birth of high court judges, had already determined the date of birth of the CJI on May 16, 1991, and the matter stood settled and final. The judges directed the registry of the apex court to file a complaint with the Tilak Marg police station, nearest to the court premises, along with the documents attached to the contempt proceedings in the case of Chennai lawyer S.K. Sundaram. The court directed the SHO of the police station to follow the complaint and the accompanying documents to the CBI after registering an FIR. It told the CBI to complete the investigation expeditiously and fix responsibility on those responsible for manipulation of the CJI’s date of birth and send a copy of its report to the court after filing it in the appropriate CBI court for prosecution. The judges issued the above directions during the hearing of suo moto contempt proceedings by the Supreme Court against Mr Sundaram for having threatened the CJI with legal proceedings against him, if the CJI did not step down over the controversy. The contempt proceedings against the lawyer was adjourned till tomorrow on his request. He pleaded for time to file certain documents to go along with his counter affidavit. Earlier, Mr Harish Salve, Solicitor-General, expressed doubts over the genuineness of the document dated September 4, 2000, originating from the General Council of Bar, London, relating to the age of the CJI and suggested an investigation into the whole affair. |
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Paswan to float new party today NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — The simmering feud in the Janata Dal (United) came out in the open today with senior leader Ram Vilas Paswan, who will float a new party tomorrow, accusing party president Sharad Yadav of inaction and the latter’s supporters charging Mr Paswan with following his own agenda. Mr Paswan, who was accompanied by three other MPs, accused the JD (U) leadership of being silent on various issues, including “corruption” by Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, and claimed that the party had no future. He said Mr Sharad Yadav did not relinquish the post of party president despite repeated assurances. Mr Paswan hinted that the “split” in the party could have been avoided had Mr Yadav quit. Maintaining that the new outfit would remain in the National Democratic alliance, Mr Paswan said ‘Janshakti,’ the party to be formally floated at a rally tomorrow, would have a pan-India character and would pay special attention to the uplift of weaker sections and women. It would contest the next year’s Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and have its manifesto ready by January, he said. He alleged that his supporter Kamla Sinha was denied the Rajya Sabha nomination at Mr Yadav’s behest. Mr Paswan claimed that yesterday’s JD (U) national executive meeting had been called under pressure and was not attended by 50 per cent of members. Mr Paswan along with his brother Mr Ramchandra Paswan, Mr Jainarain Nishad and Mr Ramesh Jigajinagi, a Hegde loyalist, had yesterday met Lok Sabha Speaker GMC Balayogi to seek a separate group status in the house. Predicting a two-way political polarisation in Bihar between him and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mr Paswan said he should have floated his party in the early 90s. “Had I floated my party at that time, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati would not have been on the scene in Uttar Pradesh,” he declared. Reacting angrily to the charges made by Mr Paswan, the JD (U) spokesperson Mr Mohan Prakash, said that tomorrow’s rally was a display of ‘dhanshakti.’ He said crores of rupees had been spent to mobilise people for the rally. He accused Mr Paswan of using wrong words for “the stream of thought of which he had been a part for a long time.” Mr Prakash claimed that Mr Paswan had walked out of the party and there was no split. “No state unit has gone to the other side and the state unit chiefs were present at yesterday’s national executive meeting,” he said. Alleging that Mr Paswan’s party was largely his “family outfit,” he said those who had walked away would not be readmitted into the party. Asked why no action had been taken against Mr Paswan earlier, Mr Prakash said the party members were mentally prepared for the parting of ways since Mr Paswan announced his intention of converting Dalit Sena into a political outfit. Mr Prakash said Mr Paswan should resign from the Vajpayee ministry on moral grounds and seek a re-election to the Lok Sabha if he was so sure of his support base. He said relations between the JD (U) and the NDA would not be affected by the new party. |
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Krishna meets PM, Advani NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna has come rushing to the national Capital to underline the need for firm central intervention in nabbing forest brigand Veerappan, responsible for nearly 130 murders. Mr Krishna called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani here today and urged them to deploy the crack National Security Guard (NSG) commandos. It is apparent that the Karnataka Chief Minister has reservations about the efficacy of the joint Special Task Force (STF) of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which has failed to deliver the goods over the past five years. Considering the laxity displayed by Tamil Nadu in getting its act together following the release of Kannada film icon Rajkumar on November 15 after being held hostage by Veerappan for 108 days, Mr Krishna firmly believes that the Centre should exhibit a firm resolve in intervening even if Tamil Nadu continues to drag its feet. Mr Krishna impressed upon Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani to compel Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi not to vaccilate any longer and give the green signal for deploying central forces so that Veerappan is brought to book for his crimes. Mr Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance government has its own compulsions of going slow and not hurting the susceptibilities of Mr Karunanidhi at this juncture when Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are round the corner. Then the DMK is a coalition partner at the Centre. The BJP has its own political compulsions and it is highly unlikely that they will do anything to precipitate matters or upset the DMK’s applecart. The Centre has an easy way out of taking refuge in the fact that law and order is a state subject. It is only if a state government seeks specific assistance that the Centre can intervene. The Tamil Nadu government has thus far assiduously refrained from seeking the Centre’s help in nabbing Veerappan. Interestingly, within 24 hours of Rajkumar’s release by Veerappan Mr Advani had sent a proposal to the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka Governments that if they lacked the wherewithal to nab the forest brigand, then the Centre is willing to despatch the NSG commandos. While Karnataka favoured such a move, Tamil Nadu remained somnolent. Mr Krishna has since sought to make his presence felt in New Delhi, urging the Centre to take the initiative even if Tamil Nadu continues to remain inexplicably negative in its approach to the Veerappan issue. Whether Mr Krishna succeeds in getting Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani to use their influence on Mr Karunanidhi to allow central intervention remains to be seen. At the same time the Tamil Nadu Government’s tardiness in getting to the bottom of the Veerappan issue has proved to be embarrassing for Mr Krishna who had to undertake a delicate balancing act and hold his horses till Rajkumar was freed from the clutches of Veerappan. Tamil Nadu’s ostrich-like approach has left much to be desired. It took Mr Karunanidhi a good five days after Veerappan released Rajkumar to announce on November 20 the recommencement of STF operations against the brigand in coordination with Karnataka. The opposition in Tamil Nadu has raised serious misgivings about the sincerity of the DMK-led coalition government at Fort St George in Chennai in firmly tackling and ending the Veerappan menace. The Karunanidhi regime has been charged with buying time for Veerappan’s extremist friends to leave the Satyamangalam forest. It is now certain that the Rajkumar hostage crisis was the handiwork of the pro-LTTE nationalists. Another disturbing aspect is that the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are unwilling to concede the opposition’s demand for a white paper on the Veerappan episode. There is widespread apprehension in Tamil Nadu that if expeditious action is not taken to bring down the curtain on the Veerappan chapter which has held centrestage for nearly a decade, it might well lead to a consolidation of the pro-LTTE forces. |
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North India in Parliament NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is considering to reopen the office of Controller of Exports and Imports at Srinagar, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Omar Abdullah, said in a written reply that the question of shifting the office of the Joint Director-General (Foreign Trade) to Srinagar was under consideration and a decision would be taken at an appropriate time. To a question whether the Government had decided to waive the cess imposed on the export of carpets from the state, Mr Abdullah said at present no cess was being levied on the export of carpets. He said under the advance licensing scheme of the ministry, the carpet industry was permitted to import silk yarn duty-free at competitive prices from the international market. Punjab Agriculture marketing committee: There was no proposal in the Agriculture Ministry for the development of a agriculture produce marketing committee under the centrally- sponsored scheme in Punjab, the Lok Sabha was informed. Flood-affected districts: Seven districts in Punjab were affected by floods, this year, the Lok Sabha was told. The Minister of Agriculture said seven persons died in the floods. The state government did not report any figures on animals lost or crops damaged. The houses damaged in the floods were negligible. In Himachal Pradesh three districts were affected and 100 persons died in the floods. Non-polluting units: Industrial units in Punjab and Haryana were not
discharging waste into the Indira Gandhi feeder canal, the Minister for Environment and Forests informed the Lok Sabha. Sports centre: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had established no rural sports centre under its operational scheme in Haryana. At present, there were two SAI training centres at Kurukshetra and Bhiwani. There was a proposal under consideration to open more centres, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports told the Lok Sabha. T and D losses: Chandigarh had successfully reduced its transmission and distribution (T and D) losses in the past few years. Figures available for three years from 1995-96 showed that from a high of 33.72 per cent, T and D losses came down to 21.88 in 1996-97 and 14.95 per cent in 1997-98. In Haryana, the change was marginal with 32.39 per cent in 1995-96, and 32.77 per cent and 33.04 per cent in the subsequent years. In the case of Punjab, the figures for three years were 18.49 per cent, 19.1 per cent and 17.9 per cent. Himachal figures were 16.09, per cent, 18.02 per cent and 19.2 per cent. Himachal exports: The Centre had undertaken no specific study to assess Himachal Pradesh’s export potential but had been interacting with the state government on a regular basis in order to boost exports and export production. The main items of export from Himachal Pradesh were apples, apple juice concentrate, wild mushrooms, walnut, vegetables, orchids, textiles, auto parts and electronic items. As regards foreign exchange earned, the Central Government maintained export data for the country as a whole and not state-wise, the Rajya Sabha was informed. |
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No decision on
foreign journals yet: Sushma NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said today that although foreign direct investment in print media had been ruled out by the government, it was still considering allowing the publication of foreign technical and scientific journals in India. Replying to a question raised by Mr K.K. Birla of the Congress during the question hour in the Rajya Sabha, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said even the 1955 Resolution which disallowed the entry of foreign media into the country suggested examining the merit of bringing in foreign technical and scientific journals. “We have already ruled out permitting foreign direct investment in the print media sector,” she said, adding that no decision had been taken on the issue of allowing the printing of foreign scientific and technical journals in the country. The minister said there had been pleas from the scientific community in the country not to deprive it of the access to the latest information on technical and scientific
fronts. "We are examining it”, she said. On being asked by Mr Birla whether such journals could be accessed in India through tie-ups with the domestic print media and by payment of royalty, Mrs Swaraj said it was an expensive proposition. On a query raised by Mr Sanjay Nirupam of the Shiv Sena whether the government was taking steps to prevent monopoly by disallowing owners of TV channels to acquire newspapers, the minister said the Convergence Bill would take care of all such issues. |
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Militancy: Centre writes to Marandi RANCHI, Nov 27 (UNI) — The Centre has asked the Jharkhand Government to prepare a detailed report on extremism which has posed a serious challenge to the new Babu Lal Marandi ministry, official sources said. Extremism continues to bother the administrative machinery of the new state like it troubled the Bihar Government, as a problem which has to be dealt with on a priority basis. The NDA in power at the Centre is expected to extend every possible assistance to its government in the fledgling state to fight extremism, as it had, as the main Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, blamed the Rabri Devi government for not tackling the issue. Politicians have attributed the backwardness of the region on to extremism. “Development is our priority and in course of ensuring it we will have to improve the law and order situation. It is a pre-requisite of development,” Chief Minister Babu Lal Marandi, had recently said. The Centre has also asked the state to put forth its requirement to tackle the menace. At least 14 of the 18 districts in Jharkhand were affected by extremism. Mr Marandi, who left for Delhi on November 25, is learnt to have discussed the issue of extremism with Home Minister L.K. Advani, and Jharkhand’s development with Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha . According to sources in the NDA here, Mr Marandi had taken along a list of party legislators, who are likely to be inducted in the second phase of Cabinet expansion, for the high command’s consent. In the second phase of expansion, which is likely to take place on December 1, at least 15 BJP legislators are to be given ministerial berths in the two-tier coalition government, sources said. Also, members of the state Council of Ministers, which is likely to have a total strength of around 25, may get their ministerial assignments by December 3, they added. No BJP member was inducted in the first phase of Cabinet expansion, for Mr Marandi had stopped with 10 members of non-BJP constituents of the NDA and independents. |
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Jagmohan orders probe into encroachment NEW DELHI, Nov 27— The Urban Development Minister, Mr Jagmohan has issued orders to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into massive encroachment of land near historic Tughlakabad Fort in the Capital after visiting the area recently. The minister informed the Rajya Sabha during his reply to a question raised by Samajwadi Party member Rama Shankar Kaushik that after he received the question from the member, he himself visited the area and found indiscriminate encroachment of land. While thanking the member for bringing the issue to his notice the minister said, “I have ordered a CBI inquiry as there are complaints that the local police connived with the building mafia”. He agreed with the member that although the monument was a protected one, there was large scale encroachment all around it and even colonies had come up in the area. He said after his visit he had decided to get all encroachments in the area cleared and
in fact develop the area as a green belt. To concerns expressed by some members that the CBI might take a long time to complete the inquiry, the minister said he would request the investigating agency to constitute a Special Cell to expedite such matters. Earlier, in a written reply, Mr Jagmohan said according to information made available by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) 811 bighas out of 2,661 bighas of Tughlakabad Fort land were reported to be under encroachment. He said though action had been taken by the ASI from time to time and encroachments had been cleared, no significant headway could be made. Mr Jagmohan said he had ordered the ASI to prosecute those people who had constructed buildings within the protected area and charge damages from them. He also sighted other examples where land had been encroached upon near monuments and pointed out that it was the high and mighty who were at times involved in land grabbing. The minister sought cooperation of all members in his efforts to remove all illegal structures in the Capital. BJP loses 3 Mayors’ seats in UP LUCKNOW, Nov 27 (UNI) — The ruling BJP lost three mayoral seats in cities considered to be its bastion in the just-concluded urban local bodies poll in Uttar Pradesh. Without waiting for the official results, the
BJP’s state leadership yesterday claimed that the ruling party’s performance was “satisfactory,” proving the popular notion wrong that the party in Uttar Pradesh was a “sinking ship”. According to the official results declared by the State Election Commission, the
BJP failed to retain Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Bareilly mayoral seats. The Congress wrested the Kanpur mayoral post, while Independents won in
Bareilly and Gorakhpur. The BJP wrested the Moradabad seat from the Samajwadi Party but that was not sufficient enough to compensate for the losses. The ultimate result was that the
BJP won six out of 11 mayoral posts, compared to eight it had captured in the last elections. The
BJP bagged Agra, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Moradabad and Varanasi while the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) retained Allahabad and
Meerut mayoral posts respectively. While the BJP’s loss in
Bareilly was to its rebel candidate Dr Tomar, Asha Devi alias Amarnath Yadav, an eunuch, captured the Gorakhpur mayoral seat. State
BJP Chief Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Rajnath Singh had yesterday claimed that it had bagged at least 54 of the total 192 posts of chairman, nagar palika
parishad. The official results, however, said the BJP had won 45 seats, the Samajwadi Party 36, the BSP 23 and the Congress 19. Independents captured 59 post of nagar palika chairman in the state. Two each had been won by the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Loktantrik Congress. Only one result was awaited. The winners of the mayoral posts were: Mr Kishori Lal (Agra); Ms Sawita Varshney (Aligarh); Dr
P.K. Srivastava (Allahabad); Dr I.S. Tomar (Bareilly); Asha Devi alias Amarnath Yadav
(Gorakhpur); Mr Dinesh Chandra Garg (Ghaziabad); Mr Anil Sharma (Kanpur); Dr S.C. Rai (Lucknow); Ms Beena Agrawal
(Moradabad); Mr Haji Shahid Akhlaq (Meerut) and Mr Amanath Yadav (Varanasi). Of the total 828 corporators’ posts in the Municipal Corporations of 11 cities, results of 530 were so far available with the State Election Commission (Panchayat and Local Bodies). Of them, the
BJP had captured 188, the Samajwadi Party 115, the BSP 80 and the Congress 58. The Apna Dal and the CPM had bagged four seats each, two each had been won by the
CPI, Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, besides 58 by Independents. |
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Militants will focus on soft targets: BSF NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — Even though the ceasefire in Kashmir has come into effect with report of no major violations by either sides, the BSF chief today expressed apprehension that militant outfits would intensify violence by attacking innocent civilians and carrying out suicide attacks on security forces. “Prominent outfits in the valley, including the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba, have opposed the ceasefire and attacks are bound to happen because they want to derail the peace process,” BSF Director-General E.A. Rammohan told reporters here. The militants would focus on “soft targets”, he said, adding that the BSF had identified villages with minority population and had intensified patrol and surveillance to prevent any untoward incident. “Each battalion has been given specific number of villages to be patrolled,” he said. Mr Rammohan, however, said there had been no escalation of tensions along the Line of Control. The outgoing BSF chief said the objective behind the ceasefire move was to “throw the ball in the militants’ court.” Meanwhile, Pakistani Rangers, deployed along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu, have agreed not to fire on civilians on the Indian side during border skirmishes, a senior BSF official said here today. BSF Inspector-General, V.N. Rai told reporters that an understanding in this regard was reached during a four-day meeting between Pakistan Rangers and the BSF in Lahore last week. |
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Iraqi Vice-President in Delhi NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — In a determined effort to improve bilateral ties, Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadhan arrived here this evening on a five-day official visit. This is the
highest level visit from Iraq in the past 25 years. Mr Ramadhan was received by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Ajit Kumar Panja and the Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr K.V. Rajan. The Iraqi Vice-President is being accompanied by a 17-member delegation which includes officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Mineral, Technology and Higher Education. During his stay in the Capital, India and Iraq would sign a long term cooperation agreement aimed at further consolidating the bilateral ties and imparting them economic contents. A memorandum of understanding between the Iraqi Federation of Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industries is also expected to be finalised, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said. During Mr Ramadhan’s stay, a two-day meeting of the Indo-Iraq Joint Commission on trade and other areas of mutual cooperation began its deliberations today. The meeting is being co-chaired by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Ram Naik, and the Iraqi Oil Minister, Mr Amer Mohammed Rashid. The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, will call on Mr Ramadhan tomorrow morning which would be followed by a call from Mr Ram Naik. The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Mr Omar Abdullah, would also call on the visiting dignitary. The Leader of the Opposition, Ms Sonia Gandhi, will also call on the Iraqi Vice-President in the evening before Mr Ramadhan calls on the Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant, at the Hyderabad House. Mr Kant will host a dinner in the honour of the visiting Vice-President. Mr Ramadhan along with his delegation will have a business meeting with the FICCI on Wednesday. He will also call on the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan. The Iraqi leader would have a meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr Ramadhan will leave for Bangalore on Thursday evening where he will visit Bharat Electronics Limited, HAL and the Technology Park. He will also have a meeting with the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna. On December 1, Mr Ramadhan will leave for Baghdad. |
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I-cards for Bengal rhinos CALCUTTA, Nov 27 — If you thought photo identity cards were just for human beings, think again. After elephants, it’s the turn of the rhinos of the Jaldapara and Gorumara forests of West Bengal to get identity cards. The Forest Department has hit upon the idea to keep a track of the rhino population. Work on photographing the rhinos of the two forests has started. The exercise forms part of the rhino census that is currently on, according to senior Forest Department official Arjun Wangden. Earlier, the department had launched a drive to allot photo identity cards to wild elephants. The rhino census will cover the 216.51 sq km area that forms the Jaldapara forest. Officials will go around the forest on trained elephants to photograph the rhinos. The Jaldapara and Gorumara forests, which are the rhinoceros’ next best natural habitat after Kaziranga in Assam, had 75 single-horned animals in 1969. The number dwindled to 68 in 1999, mainly because of the decreased fertility rate among the female rhinos. Efforts to breed rhinos brought from a zoo in Assam in Jaldapara have not yielded the desired results. The identity cards of the rhinos will be kept in the museum of the Forest Department. The census, apart from taking a fresh head count, will also document the peculiarities in the behaviour of the rhinos. Meanwhile, Project Tiger has planned a detailed study on the animals in the Forests of the Sundarbans. According to project Field Director Pradeep Sukla, there are plans to capture three tigresses, fix radio collars on them and then set them free. Once inside the forest, the tigresses will hopefully assist the researchers learn more about them. Tigresses have been chosen because of their habit of returning to their dens at the end of the day to look after their cubs. Mr Sukla feels the effort will help study the tiger ecology and also help during the census. The exercise, estimated to cost Rs 120 million, is expected to begin in March, 2001. Also part of the venture will be the construction of enclosures along the fringe areas of the Sundarbans forest from where the tourists can spot tigers. A frequent complaint of tourists has been that tiger viewing is almost nil in the dense mangrove forest, which is out of bounds for people. People usually travel in steamers along the backwaters and the creeks hoping a tiger will emerge from the forest onto the banks. The Forest Department also has the plans of holding a census of deer, monkeys and boars. The “prey census,” which Mr Sukla says is the first of its kind in India, will endeavour to find out about the food stock of the tiger in the wild.
— IANS |
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St Mary’s nuns
robbed DEHRA DUN, Nov 27 — About six armed persons reportedly entered Saint Mary’s School in Haridwar last night, misbehaved with nuns and took away Rs 1,300, gold ear-rings, a camera and watches. According to reports, the robbers tied five nuns and a female assistant in a room and ransacked all five rooms for valuables. Bishop Akswards of Meerut Christian Missionary and Mr BB Dass, DIG, Garhwal region, visited the site. The DIG assured the nuns security and deployed police personnel there. According to the FIR, three armed persons entered the school after breaking the main gate. A few others remained outside. The armed persons then tied the sisters with ropes. On hearing their shouts, the watchman rushed to the spot but he too was tied by
them. |
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Bail granted NEW DELHI, Nov 27 (PTI) — A Delhi court today granted bail to former Deputy Director of Enforcement Directorate Ashok Aggarwal, his brother Vijay Aggarwal and their Accountant Shish Ram Saini, who were arrested by the CBI last month on charges of criminal conspiracy, forgery and amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke ordered their release on furnishing bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety each in the like amount as the CBI did not oppose their plea. J&K BJP leaders meet Vajpayee NEW DELHI, Nov 27 — A five-member delegation of BJP leaders from Jammu and Kashmir met the Prime Minister here and apprised him of the political situation after the Centre’s decision to declare unilateral ceasefire in the state during Ramzan. The delegation, which included Mr Vaid Vishnu Dutt, MP, Mr Ashok Kajuria and Mr Piara Singh, both
MLAs, sought a special package for the people living in border areas who faced intermittent firing by Pakistan.
Anniversary functions to
be banned NEW DELHI, Nov 27
(PTI) — The government has decided to put a stop to all functions to observe birth and death anniversaries of national leaders at their samadhis in the Capital, the Rajya Sabha has been informed. In a written reply, the Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr Bandaru Dattatreya, said, the birth and death anniversary functions of Mahatma Gandhi, however, shall be organised by the Rajghat Samadhi Committee, a statutory body, as in the past. The reasons to put a stop to the functions included substantial expenditure and changing security perceptions and political scenario, the minister said.
Tamil actress
commits suicide CHENNAI, Nov 27 (PTI) — Tamil actress Viji committed suicide today, the police said. She was 29. The police said her body was found hanging in the bedroom of her residence in central Chennai. In her suicide note, Viji said she was ending her life due to love failure. She made her debut in the film “Kozhi Koovuthu” and had acted in more than 15 films. Of late, she had been doing roles in TV serials. |
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