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| Sunday, December 10, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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SAARC: India to seek
Pak’s expulsion Assam tense, red alert in
Arunachal SP to continue protest till PM apologises Govt, postal staff refuse to budge Assassination bid on Rabri? |
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Bidhuri likely to
be Janshakti vice-president 803 Gentleman Cadets
commissioned Bishop’s refusal to leave causes unrest Dikshit should quit:
BJP 21 hurt, 50 buses torched
‘Bobbitised’ youth’s
body found
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SAARC: India to seek
Pak’s expulsion CALCUTTA, Dec 9 — India will press for the expulsion of Pakistan from SAARC for not responding properly to the call for stopping cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and Punjab and ISI’s involvement in the insurgency activities in different parts of the country. An External Affairs Ministry source said today that India had registered a strong protest to Pakistan for helping the militants in insurgency in the Kashmir valley even when India had taken to recourse to “ceasefire” during the auspicious Ramzan. The actions of the militants in Kashmir and elsewhere in no way reflect Pakistan’s intention to maintain “extreme control” over the use of force against India, ministry sources said. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka have officially declared their support to India’s stand on Kashmir. The USA, Russia as well as Britain had also welcomed the ceasefire decision during Ramzan by Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as a token of friendly gesture. But since there has been yet no positive response from Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism across the Indo-Pak border and ISI activities inside the country, India wants to raise the matter at the SAARC before going for any unilateral actions against Pakistan. India has been ready to negotiate with Pakistan on Kashmir and any other bilateral issues and for that matter, a congenial atmosphere is needed, India conveyed to Pakistan. But so far, there has been no indications from Pakistan’s side that they are at all keen to maintain friendly relations with India, alleged the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. |
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Assam tense, red alert in Arunachal GUWAHATI, Dec 9 (UNI) — Fear psychosis seems to have gripped Assam in the wake of the massacre of Hindi-speaking people and reprisal killing of kin of ULFA leaders even as neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh sounded a red alert fearing a spill-over of violence, official reports indicated. In all, 97 Hindi-speaking persons have been killed across Assam by terrorists during the past six weeks. The reports said the situation had been aggravated by the killings and attacks on family members of top ULFA leaders by unidentified gunmen apparently in retaliation for the killing of Hindi-speaking people, mainly migrant Bihari workers. No militant has been arrested so far though the government repeatedly said the banned ULFA was involved in these massacres. The government has assured security to the people. Meanwhile, neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh has sounded a statewide red alert in view of the mass killings and combing operations launched by the paramilitary forces to nab the culprits in Assam. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi said the district authorities had been asked to be prepared for any eventuality. He admitted there were some ULFA hideouts in his state but said the ultras frequently shifted hideouts to evade arrest owing to better intelligence set-up. “ULFA’s intelligence may be more effective than ours,” he admitted. Meanwhile, prominent people from all walks of life, including freedom fighters, writers, journalists and lawyers, expressed strong resentment over the spate of violence in Assam and took out processions in various parts of the state yesterday. They appealed to the people to resist such mindless violence which was against the Assamese culture. Meanwhile, prominent organisations representing Hindi-speaking populace have issued a joint appeal to their brethren in the Hindi heartland of the country to thwart attempts by anti-social elements to attack Assamese living there or travelling through the region. BHUBANESWAR: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Saturday ruled out the involvement of any foreign agency in the massacres taking place in Assam. Mr Fernandes, who came on a day’s visit to Orissa to oversee the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the cyclone-affected areas, told newsmen that “we only see the hands of
ULFA in the mowing down of innocent people in the area’’. |
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SP to continue protest till PM apologises LUCKNOW, Dec 9 (PTI) —The Samajwadi Party today said it would contintue its protest in Parliament till Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee apologised for his recent remarks on Ram Temple issue. “Till the Prime Minister apologises for his statement on the temple issue, there is no relevance of Lok Sabha proceedings and the party will continue its protest,” sp president Mulayam Singh Yadav told a press conference here. “The Prime Minister’s statement is against the spirit of the constitution and the law of the land and a blow to secularism. He should express regrets and apology,” he said. Only after withdrawal of Mr Vajpayee’s statement, a debate could begin in the Lok Sabha, Mr Yadav said, adding that the views of the
NDA constituents should also be made public on the issue. The Prime Minister’s remarks were a “well-planned” strategy of the ruling
BJP to divert attention of the people from “failures” of the NDA government. On the formation of a third front, he said there was no consensus over the issue as some parties like the
CPM had anti-Congress and anti-BJP stance while others had joined hands with the Congress to run their state governments. Mr Yadav said he would join hands with former Prime Minister V.P. Singh to fight communal forces and for improving the lot of the poor and farmers. “I was having differences with Mr V.P. Singh in the past but now there is no misunderstanding with him. We will together to chalk out strategies to fight communal forces and for betterment of the poor and farmers,” he said. |
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Govt, postal staff refuse to budge NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (UNI) — Mail services in the country continued to be affected on the fifth day of the indefinite postal strike, mainly jeopardising the money-order economies of the vast rural areas of the country, forcing the authorities to seek help of the Army Postal Services (APS) today. The stalemate continued with the three key federations spearheading the stir by over 6,00,000 postal employees and the government refusing to budge. Postal operations in the country have been paralysed since Tuesday when 6,00,000 workers began an indefinite strike to push for higher wages as well as full benefits and pensions for 3,00,000 part-time employees. While the postal strike is snowballing with trade unions expressing solidarity with the employees, the Communications Minister’s office says most of the strikers’ demands have been met and those on the financial issue will be taken up by the Finance Ministry. There are reports that even Communications Minister Ram Bilas Paswan’s constituency, Hajipur in Bihar, is supporting the strike. Also, the people of the Hazaribagh constituency of Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha have expressed solidarity with the postal employees. The APS and the Home Guards have been pressed into service. But the effect of their help is minimal as the “APS members are only working in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and part of Jammu and Kashmir,” an official spokesman said. |
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Assassination bid on Rabri? PATNA, Dec 9 — “Assassination bid on Chief Minister Rabri Devi foiled!” The state capital on Thursday was agog with the news. But, as the details of the incident came trickling in, interesting and queer facts were thrown up for the Friday early morning teatime discussion. The mutually contradictory versions of the police and the 30-plus armed intruder, Dilip Kumar Nirala, who was captured trying to force his way into the 1, Anne Marg CM’s residence, have put forth many moot queries. As Chief Minister Rabri Devi said it could well be a “plot” and her husband Laloo Prasad declared to the media that the intruder had come with the aim to “kill the CM”, the incident is likely to acquire political colour. The police do not rule out the intruder Nirala having been used by the vested interests to kill the CM, declaring him to be man with criminal antecedents and charging him with the murder of his father. Nirala has altogether a different story to offer. Nirala says he had come with a locally made gun seeking justice from the CM and had decided to kill himself with the gun in the CM’s residence itself, if he failed to get justice. He says armed criminals had killed his father and uncle on Tuesday and after raping his wife in front of him, had taken away his wife and five kids. The visibly deranged youth says he had rushed to Patna to seek justice from the CM. The police denying the story says he had killed his father while attempting to kill his uncle. The police is confirming his version on the rape of his wife. Interesting aspects of the drama is that the youth speaks of the CM and Laloo with respect. He says he had come to seek justice from the ‘Raja’, referring to Laloo Prasad. This speaks of how much is the “cult politics” ingrained in the psyche of the masses. Laloo himself played the ‘Raja’ his people call him, offering blanket to the intruder promptly and stopping the security men from beating him. The incident also speaks of the intra-society feud looming large over the Bihar countryside and the utter failure of the institutionalised justice system. The common man’s recourse to an individual for justice speaks volumes on the collapse of the justice machinery of the state. Moreover, it was revealed by the youth that the gun was provided to him by “Bada Saheb”, meaning the local RJD MLA, Shahid Ali Khan, whom he helped in his election campaign. He also revealed that he was planning to contest the forthcoming panchayat polls and that is why the feud with some of his co-villagers. This exposes the cult of growing criminalisation of politics in the state and the politicians’ role in encouraging youth to turn criminals and get entry into politics. |
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Bidhuri likely to
be Janshakti vice-president NEW DELHI, Dec 9 — The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president and spokesperson, Mr Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who had resigned from the post and primary membership of the party on Saturday is likely to take over as national vice-president and spokesperson of the Janshakti in the coming week. The party was launched in November end by the Union Communications Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan. Mr Bidhuri told TNS here on Saturday that a formal announcement about his appointment will be made by Mr Paswan on Wednesday. While agreeing that Mr Paswan has already appointed former Bihar Chief Minister, Abdul Ghafoor as the vice-president of Janshakti, he said the party constitution provided for the appointment of two vice-presidents. Refusing to divulge the reasons for joining Janshakti, Mr Bidhuri said, “I will explain next week why I have chosen to join Janshakti.” Mr Bidhuri, who has been Chairman of the Backward Cell of the All-India Congress Committee, said he wanted to espouse the cause of the weaker sections. Mr Bidhuri had joined Janata Dal launched by Mr V.P. Singh in 1989. He was appointed national general secretary of the Janata Dal and held the office from 1990 to 1996. In 1996, he was appointed as convener of the AICC central election campaign committee. |
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803 Gentleman Cadets
commissioned DEHRA DUN, Dec 9 — With the passing out of the 108 Regular Course cadets here today, the Indian Military Academy has reverted to the original training period, which had been cut by six months earlier this year. Two regular course cadets had undergone a truncated training period, wherein direct entry cadets underwent a 12-month training period, while ex-National Defence Academy cadets underwent a six-month training period instead of the respective 18 months' and 12 months' training periods. IMA's Brigadier-General Staff, Brig Ajay Pawha, said that the aim of cutting down the training had been achieved and the academy was reverting to the original training schedule. "The Kargil conflict, to a certain extent, was a reason for truncating the training period leading to three courses passing out in a year instead of the normal two courses," he stated. A total of 803 Gentleman Cadets (GC), including 21 from friendly foreign countries of the Autumn Term - 2000, were "piped" as commissioned officers at an impressive passing out parade. The term included 658 GCs of 108 Regular Course, 59 GCs from 90 Technical Course and 8 University Entry Scheme, 75 GCs of the Technical Entry Scheme and 11 GCs (including 3 Assam Rifles) of the 5 SCO. Of the 658 cadets of the regular course, 314 were direct entries and 31 from the Army Cadet College. The Autumn-2000 term saw the largest batch passing out from the IMA. The infantry bagged the lion's share, with 215 cadets being commissioned into various units. The ceremony began with the companies forming up on the inspection line and the academy colours being brought on parade. The academy's Deputy Commandant, Maj-Gen Jitendra Singh, and Commandant, Lieut-Gen Yuvraj Mehta were next to arrive, followed by the chief guest, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Shushil Kumar. Admiral Kumar reviewed the parade, commanded by Academy Cadet Adjutant N. S. Johal, after which the companies re-formed and marched past the dais. Admiral Kumar took the salute. Congratulating the GCs on moving into a different dimension from a period of adolescence and training to becoming leaders, Admiral Kumar said that they had opted for a career which would be a challenge, but there would be many rewards. "Remember, the credo of the academy should be emblazoned on your hearts," he stated. Admiral Kumar also gave away prizes to the winners. The coveted Sword of Honour was won by Academy Cadet Adjutant N. S. Johal for being adjudged as the best all-round cadet. The gold medal for standing first in the order of merit was awarded to Battalion Under Officer Vishal Singh, while the silver and bronze medals were awarded to Battalion Cadet Adjutant S. V. Singh and Academy Cadet Adjutant N. S.
Johal.The silver medal for standing first in the Technical Graduates Course went to Junior Under Officer Ajay Kumar Bhalla. The Chief of Army Staff's banner for being the champion company was lifted by Kohima Company. As the GCs slow-marched into the historic Chetwode Building for the "Final Step", a three helicopter formation of the Army's 661 Recce and Observation Flight commanded by Col Devinder Singh showered petals on the parade. Later, the GCs were "piped" by their parents. This involves putting on the rank markings on their shoulder epulettes. While the parents of some of the foreign cadets were present, the others were piped by Admiral Kumar and his wife. |
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Bishop’s refusal to leave causes unrest GANDHINAGAR, Dec 9 (UNI) — The Gujarat Government was today baffled with the “refusal’’ by Bishop M. Ezra Sargunam to move out of Surat district and said his continued presence and “attempts to whip up communal frenzy’’ were detrimental to communal harmony in the area. According to official sources, the Bishop had refused to meet the district officials or move out of Vyara taluka. “He is trying to gather people, storm the disputed site, a religious place, and offer prayers there,’’ the sources said. The Right Reverend Bishop M. Ezra Sargunam, who is President of the Evangelical Church of India
(ECI), was directed by the Tamil Nadu Government to return, following a request made by the Gujarat Government in this regard three days ago. The Bishop, who is also the Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Minority Commission, was hospitalised at Surat following his fast against what he alleged was “erection of a temple in place of a church’’ by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its supporters recently. After his discharge from the hospital, the Bishop, who was staying at a guest-house, refused to meet the district authorities, who wanted to inform him about the Tamil Nadu Government’s directive. Again, yesterday, Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya made a second request to Tamil Nadu seeking removal of the Bishop from the tense area and urged the Union Home Ministry to look into the matter, the sources said. Even former Congress Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Amarsinh Choudhary had urged the Bishop to leave Gujarat in the interest of peace and communal harmony. Mr Choudhary said the issue raised by the Bishop was not of communal nature but an ordinary land dispute. |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (UNI) — Just two days before the special one-day session of the Delhi Assembly to discuss the issue of relocation of polluting industries in the Capital, the BJP today demanded resignation of the Sheila Dikshit government on moral grounds for its alleged failure on all fronts during two years of its “misrule’’. BJP president Mange Ram Garg said Mrs Sheila Dikshit had not only mishandled the issue of polluting industries in Delhi it had failed to solve all problems of Delhi’ites, including water crisis, power shortage, crumbling transport system, unauthorised colonies, poor health services and failing educational standards. “Mrs Sheila Dikshit is neither familiar with the people of Delhi nor their problems. Even her own party MLA's have levelled charges of corruption against her and she has no moral authority to stay in office any longer,’’ Mr Garg said at a press conference here. He also demanded an all-party meeting to resolve the crisis relating to closure of industrial units in residential areas following the Supreme Court order in this regard. The BJP chief said only the polluting industries could be closed immediately and the government should make a plea before the apex court to grant a period of two years to properly relocate the non-polluting industries. Speaking on the alleged rise of corruption during the Congress rule, he said for the first time in the history of Delhi serious charges of corruption against the government had come before the Lokayukta. |
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21 hurt, 50 buses torched DEHRA DUN, Dec 9 (PTI) — At least 21 persons were injured and about 50 upsrtc buses damaged in violence sparked off by the death of two girl students in a road accident at Rishikesh, some 35 km from here, today, the police said. Students went on the rampage as soon as the news of the accident, which occurred when the scooty on which two girl students of Pandit Shanti Prasanna Degree College was knocked down by a
UPSRTC bus, spread, the police said. They torched about 50 buses in the local bus stand and smashed the office of the roadways. One upsrtc employee who was present in the office was injured. The students later threw stones injuring 10 persons and damaged some nearby buildings, the police said. |
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100-kg cake for
Sonia’s birthday NEW DELHI, Dec 9 — Thousands of Congress workers from all parts of the country today greeted Mrs Sonia Gandhi on her 54th birthday today. The visitors, who thronged her residence right from the morning, included five Congress Chief Ministers besides Congress Working Committee members. While a 100-kg cake was presented by the DPCC, a 54-kg cake was presented by a girl student residing in Ghaziabad. The TNCC presented Mrs Gandhi with a replica of Thanjavur temple. Pigeons were also released on the occasion. Hundreds of Youth Congress workers led by president Randeep Singh Surjewala distributed sweets outside the residence of the Congress president. President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi were among the dignitaries to greet Mrs Gandhi. |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which account for most of the remaining polio cases in the country, should make special efforts to see that every child received polio drops. Pulse polio immunisation campaign had shown the power of participation among the government, NGOs and people on how to overcome a challenge, he said in an address to the nation on television and radio on the eve of the nationwide pulse polio immunisation campaign tomorrow. “After we win the battle against polio let us together work to remove other major diseases so that we can make India a healthier nation,” Mr Vajpayee said. Asking every citizen irrespective of class, caste or religion to bring their children to receive the polio drops, he made a special appeal to the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to ensure that every child received their drops. India still accounted for four out of 10 polio cases in the world, the Prime Minister said, describing the pulse polio immunisation campaign as “by far the biggest exercise in mass mobilisation since Independence to achieve a major national objective.” |
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‘Bobbitised’ youth’s
body found NEW DELHI, Dec 9 (PTI) — The body of a “bobbitised” youth was found in a bathroom of a house in the Rohini area of north-west Delhi early today, the police said. According to the police, Ms Sunita Chandana (40) found the body with its private part severed, legs tied and head injured by a blunt object, in the bathroom of her Sector-3 residence around 1 a.m., after foul smell started emanating from the place. Ms Chandana, who stays with her 16-year-old son, told the police that she did not know the deceased and that her son had left the home around the same time the body was found. |
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KANNUR, Dec 9 (PTI) — A five-member BJP Central team arrived here today to probe the violent incidents involving the CPM and the RSS-BJP which have claimed six lives since December 2. BJP sources said the team, deputed by the central committee of the party, would tour violence-hit areas of the district for two days. BODH GAYA (Bihar), Dec 9 (ANI) — Buddhists are embroiled in a controversy over the real claimant to the “black hat” headgear of Karma Kargya School in Sikkim. A summit of Buddhists here has refused to accept the Chinese Karmapa, born Ugyen Thinley Dorje, as the 17th
Karmapa. |
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IGP meets TN CM CHENNAI, Dec 9 (UNI) — The IGP of the BSF, Mr K. Vijaya Kumar, arrived here this morning and held a meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi regarding efforts to supplement the operations of the special task force (STF) to nab forest brigand Veerappan. According to official sources Mr Vijay Kumar was on his way to Coimbatore, where 1,000 BSF personnel would join the “anti-Veerappan” operations. Cop injured MALDA, Dec 9 (PTI) — A student was run over by a speeding truck on NH-34 at New Farakka More in the district today, sparking off mob violence in which a police officer was injured. The police said 18-year-old Niranjan Aharana was crushed under the wheels of a truck while going to nearby DN College. Consequently, angry locals disrupted traffic on the road, threw stones at the policemen who rushed to the spot. |
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3 school principals arrested
No recruitment of women in IMA Tripura’s first CM dead Board deposits 300 kg of gold with SBI Kidnapped tycoon found |
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