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| Thursday, January 18, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Subsidised wheat for poor families
Sansad to give temple construction date Naval planes to be kept out of flypast Even God can’t
predict future: Hawking Involve Sikhs in talks: Dhindsa HC notice to Prasar Bharati |
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Talks on Samjhauta
Express begin PM holds
meeting on reforms Prasada’s death to affect CWC composition WB CM mocks at ‘mahajot’ NHRC team to
visit Midnapore Jaswant’s Riyadh visit to boost economic ties 4 killed in attack on MLA’s house Editor moves SC in CJI case Ceasefire to cover all Naga areas Ban on vehicles
‘not implemented’
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Subsidised wheat for poor families SRIGANGANAGAR, Jan 17 — Decks have been cleared for the distribution of subsidised wheat to more than 46,000 families in the district which are below the poverty line (BPL) or have been affected by the drought. Although this district has not been declared drought-hit by the state government yet the families are identified which cannot afford two square meals a day. The administration will issue yellow cards to the families who will be given wheat at the rate of Rs 2 per kg. Each family can draw 25 kg of wheat per month. A decision in this context was taken by the Zila parishad this evening. According to sources, priority would be given to those who were BPL. The benefit would also be extended to the handicapped, widows besides others who have no means of a livehood. A team of officials would then scrutinise the lists and identify 7,000 families which will qualify for the BPL status. This would be placed in the house of the parishad on January 26 for the approval of the members. In all likelihood, the subsidised wheat would be issued to the families by the first week of February. The BPL families would be divided in two categories. Firstly, those who are landless, have no livestock and means of livelihood and no earning hand between the age of 15 and 59 years. Besides these factors like blindness, physical disabilities and old age will also be taken into consideration. In the second category, only those families qualify which do not own land and have an annual income of Rs 5,000 per annum from all sources. Other than this, priority will also be given to widows, scheduled castes and tribes and other needy persons of families on a case to case basis. All the wards in the city will be allowed to recommend only the names of the needy families not exceeding the allotted quota of 15.33 per cent. It is pertinent to mention that the state is extending the subsidised wheat scheme to cover 3.72 lakh families in the state. Out of these 3.24 lakh families are from the rural areas while 30,153 are from the urban and semi urban areas. As many as 21 of the 31 districts have been facing the third major drought in the past 13 years. Thousands of families have migrated to other areas and the state has been forced to initiate welfare measures. Development works have been taken up and families are being paid wages under various schemes. Depots providing fodder at nominal rates have been set up all over the state for the livestock. Water tankers too are being pressed into service for the people. |
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Sansad to give temple construction date KUMBH NAGAR, Jan 17 (PTI) — The Vishwa Hindu Parsihad
(VHP) today authorised “Dharam Sansad” (religious parliament) to take a final decision on the date for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya during its three-day meeting here this week. The Dharam
Sansad, beginning January 19, was also authorised to finalise an action plan for temple construction,
VHP Vice-President S.C. Dixit told reporters here. He said these decisions were taken at a two-day inter-action of the Governing Council and the Central Board of Trustees of the
VHP. Dixit said once the Dharam Sansad announced the date for the temple construction,
VHP activists would carry out the assigned task. To a question, the VHP
vice-President said the temple issue might not lead to political instability but added even if such a situation arose, the
VHP would not retract from his objective of construction of the Ram temple. “Vhp is prepared to make any sacrifice for the temple. Even the political instability or the fall of the Vajpayee government will not deter its workers from going ahead with the construction of the temple at Ayodhya.” Dixit said the
VHP believed that the construction of the Ram temple was absolutely necessary for unity and integrity of the country. “The Hindus must be given an unfettered right to worship at the Ram temple at Ayodhya,” he said. On religions conversions, Dixit said a resolution passed at the
VHP meeting stated the conversion of Hindus must be stopped or else it would change the demographic profile of the country. |
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Naval planes to be kept out of flypast NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — Keeping in view the near mid-air collision between the naval and air force aircraft during the flypast on Republic Day over Rajpath last year, it will be a complete IAF show this year. Not wanting to take further chances which would create embarrassing situations again and leave senior officers of the three services red in the face the authorities have decided to keep the naval aircraft away from the show. Last year on January 26 almost 100,000 persons, including the large number of VIPs, who had assembled on both sides of Rajpath had witnessed the IAF’s IL-76 aircraft and the Navy’s Tupolev TU-142 M (Albatross) aircraft come dangerously close to each other during the flypast just near the main enclosure. The enclosure had among others, President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, several Cabinet ministers, the three service chiefs and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a result, this year the flypast would revert to its traditional practice of involving only IAF helicopters and aircraft. In all there would be six different formations by the helicopters and aircraft, which would include the country’s latest acquisition the SU-30s and the Jaguar fighter aircraft. A senior officer of the IAF, not wanting to be quoted clarified that rather than making things complicated it was better to involve just one agency. Flypast over the years has always featured aircraft of the IAF which also signifies the display of some of country’s air strength. So keeping the Navy out should not really be considered as anything wrong, he said. Anyway it is not complete show of the country’s airpower so it really does not matter if some planes are not featured during the flypast, he added. The main demonstration of country’s airpower is during the show held at Pokhran every year, which will be held this year later in February. The Republic Day incident last year had witnessed both the IAF and the Navy accusing each other for the near collision with each claiming that the other was at fault. The IAF and the Navy had both constituted independent inquiry committees to go into the circumstances leading to the near mid-air collision over Rajpath. Only a few hundred feet and sheer luck had saved India from a disgraceful accident between the huge Russian-made IL-76 and the surveillance TU-142M plane of the Navy. The difference between the air corridors of the IL-76 and TU-142M were just 600 feet. With a gap of a few metres from the other formation, the naval aircraft lifted up and sped away, thus avoiding the collision. The alertness displayed by the naval pilots saved India from witnessing one of the most disastrous accidents ever in its history. According to the original plan of the flypast, the Big Formation, which included the IL-76 aircraft, was to be followed by the TU-142M. The latter, which took off from Chennai, was scheduled to land back there. Both formations should have been separated by a minute during the flypast. However, as a result of a mixup the TU-142M formation actually overtook the IL-76 led formation above Rajpath and sped away. The IAF later claimed that the time gap between the formations was dangerously reduced by the failure on the part of the TU-142M pilots to inform the IAF traffic control in New Delhi. On the other hand the Navy insisted that it was the responsibility of the traffic control in New Delhi to guide them. Immediately after the near-miss, the naval aircraft were asked to land at Palam. The Air Force and Naval authorities took separate statements of the pilots of the aircrafts. Even God can’t
predict future: Hawking NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — “Even God is bound by the uncertainty principle, and cannot know the position and velocity, but only the wave function,’’ said wheel-chair bound physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, while delivering the Albert Einstein lecture, 2001, on “Predicting the future: From Astrology to black holes” at Siri Fort auditorium here today. He explained that a particle’s state could be represented by what was called a wave function. “We now realise that the wave function is all that can be well defined. We can’t suppose that the particle has a position and velocity that are known to God, but are hidden from us. Such hidden variable theories predict results that are not in agreement with observation,’’ said Professor Hawking. He said the concept of absolute time which most physicists had at the back of their minds meant that each event in the history of the universe was labelled by a unique value of time. He added that the concept of absolute time was overthrown by the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905. ``The space-time of special relativity, is flat. This means that the time measured by any freely moving observer, will increase smoothly on
space-time, from minus infinity in the infinite past, to plus infinity in the infinite future.’’ Professor Hawking asked why we should suppose that space-time has a structure that does not admit a time that increases everywhere. “The answer is
black holes.’’ He said the first discussion on black holes was in 1783 by a Cambridge man, John Mitchell. “Mitchell’s black stars, were based on Newtonian physics, in which time was absolute, and went on regardless of what happened. I remember going to Paris to give a seminar on my discovery, that quantum theory means that black holes are not completely black. My seminar fell rather flat, however, because almost no one in Paris believed in black holes, at that time. May be, it was the name which the French considered obscene, and refused to use.’’ Professor Hawking described by the Newsweek magazine as the “Master of the Universe” said that it would be possible to detect the radiation from much smaller and hotter black holes, but there does not seem to be many of them around. “That is a pity. If one were discovered, I would get a Nobel Prize,’’ he said. Speaking through his speech synthesiser, the physicist said: “We are used to thinking we can know the past exactly. However, if information gets lost in black holes, this is not the case. So, may be we really found the theory of everything last year, but the information got lost. In general, however, people such as astrologers, are more interested in predicting the future, than in retro-dicting the past.’’ Author of the best-seller, `A brief History of Time, Professor Hawking said the human race had always wanted to control the future, or at least, to predict what would happen. “That is why astrology is so popular. Astrology is what would now be called an effective theory.’’
Involve Sikhs in talks: Dhindsa GANDHAR (Baroda), Jan 17 — The Sikhs and Kashmiri Pandits should form part of any dialogue process to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue, said senior SAD leader and Union Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. All affected parties, including the Sikhs, the Hindus and the Ladakhis should form part of the Prime Minister’s peace initiative in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Dhindsa told The Tribune in an interview here. Asked about Centre’s move to open a dialogue with the Hurriyat leaders and their proposed visit to Pakistan, Mr Dhindsa said the matter could not be resolved without all affected parties jointly making an effort to end the impasse. The Sikh community, whose presence in the valley was little known in the decade long militancy, came to limelight with the brutal massacre of 36 innocent persons of the community on the eve of US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in March last. This was the first major attack on the community and its leaders there had expressed their willingness to move out of the valley. However, the Sikhs decided to stay after senior Akali leaders visited the area and appealed to them. Appearing to be disenchanted with the Centre’s approach in dealing with the Kashmir issue, Mr Dhindsa felt the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance should take into confidence the leader of the affected community in taking the proposed peace process forward. Asked whether he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister, Mr Dhindsa said the Political Affairs Committee of the SAD would take a final decision in the matter. The Union Minister categorically ruled out the early dissolution of the Punjab Assembly as speculated by the Congress and other opposition leaders in the state. He maintained that the Assembly would complete its term. However, he gave enough indications that SAD chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would closely monitor the party’s prospects in the forthcoming local bodies elections in the state before taking any decision on the early dissolution of the Assembly. The panchayat and zila parishad elections are scheduled to be held in April. And in case the Assembly elections are to be advanced it is only possible in the latter half of the year after the monsoon. Mr Dhindsa also indicated that even the close allies of former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, were unlikely to get party ticket for the local bodies. However, he said, Bibi Jagir Kaur had enough support base among the people and her supporters could win on their own. Asked whether Bibi Jagir Kaur would be given the party ticket to fight the assembly poll, the senior SAD leader said the PAC would take a final decision on this. She had not been convicted of the charges by the court. Mr Dhindsa expressed dismay over the proposed visit by SGPC and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) members to Sikh shrines in Pakistan. “I totally oppose such a visit by leaders of the committee at a time when the gurdwara committee (PGPC) in Pakistan is being headed by former ISI chief Javed Nassir”, the SAD leader said. He said even the former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur had called for the boycott of the visit to the shrines in the neighouring country until the military regime in Islamabad scrapped the PGPC and talks began at the highest-level between India and Pakistan to resolve the gurdwara issue. Mr Vajpayee and Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf should discuss this issue whenever a summit level meeting takes place. Only then, the SGPC and DSGMC could send jathas to visit Sikh shrines in Pakistan, Mr Dhindsa said. With the change in the leadership of SGPC, the president of DSGMC, Mr Avtar Singh Hit, had announced the commencement of jathas to visit Pakistan. Mr Hit had earlier opposed the visit of such jathas but had changed his stand without giving any convincing reasons. |
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HC notice to Prasar Bharati NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (UNI) — The Delhi High Court today issued notices to Prasar Bharati and others on a petition alleging that Union Minister Pramod Mahajan used his official position to favour a television software company owned by his wife and son. Mr Justice Anil Dev Singh and Mr Justice O.P. Dwivedi, listing the public interest petition for February 13, directed issue of notice to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) as well. The petition relates to the approval given by Prasar Bharati for the telecast of the serial “Tak Dhina Dhin” by Integral Productions (of which Mr Irfaan Khan is the Chairman and Managing Director) in June 1999 when Mr Mahajan was holding the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting. The company agreed to give Prasar Bharati a minimum guarantee of Rs 35 lakh per episode for the 26 episodes. It is also alleged the extension was given to the series without proper norms. It is alleged by the petitioner Jaidev, who is a social worker, that the serial was approved by Prasar Bharati within three days because Mr Mahajan’s wife Rekha and son Rahul have shares in Integral Productions. It is alleged there is a notation on the file of the serial which refers to advice received from the ministry for immediate clearance of the serial. The petitioner has also alleged a nexus between the minister and Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer R. R. Shah. He alleged there was a loss of over Rs 40 lakh to the public broadcaster but no case was filed in this connection. When the controversy was raised by a local newspaper in October last year, Mr Khan had denied the minister’s son Rahul or his wife Rekha were linked to the series as the two had resigned from the company on December 7, 1998, two days after Mr Mahajan became Information and Broadcasting Minister. Mr Khan said he had sent the proposal for the programme on May 3, 1999, and it was approved 45 days later on June 21. |
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Talks on Samjhauta
Express begin NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — Indian and Pakistani Railways officials began their two-day talks here today to review the 1991 Agreement relating to rail communication, including running of the Samjhauta Express, between the two countries. While the Indian side is being headed by Mr S.S. Bhandari, Additional Member (Traffic), Railway Board, the Pakistani side is headed by Mr Abdul Qayyum, Additional General Manager (Freight), Pakistan Railways. Mr Bhandari said impressive strides had been made in modern technology and management since 1991 and deliberations would keep in mind changes and challenges faced by rail transport from other modes. Mr Qayyum hoped that the meeting would provide an opportunity to exchange views on the basis of experiences gained by the two sides in technological advancements in rail operations. An agreement for rail communication between India and Pakistan came about in 1976. It was extended from time to time till 1991 when a new agreement was signed. This agreement was reviewed in 1994 and 1997. The 1991 agreement was valid up to July 7, 2000. The two Railways agreed to extend it up to the January 7 this year and then again up to February 7 next. This was to enable both the Railways to hold a joint meeting for its renewal. PM holds
meeting on reforms NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — In a bid to give a decisive push to the second phase of reforms, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today held a second round of meeting with Union ministers. The discussions continued with from where it had left on January 3 and there were several suggestions which would form part of the Budget proposals, Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha said after the meeting. He said a third round of meeting would be held on January 28 to complete the discussions on the listed agenda. The agenda pertains to important economic issues which would have a bearing on the economic situation in the long-term. The meeting was attended among others by the Union Ministers Mr L.K. Advani, Mr Arun Shourie, and Mr George Fernandes. It was decided that the Cabinet Committee on disinvestment would now meet on January 30, Mr Sinha said. He said the Prime Minister wanted the reforms to be taken to the people and it should be people-friendly. The meeting of ministers on the eve of the Budget is expected to make the exercise more consensus-oriented.
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Prasada’s death to affect CWC composition NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — The death of senior Congress leader Jitendra Prasada, who had emerged as the voice of dissidents in the party, would not only delay the constitution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) but also affect its composition. Mr Prasada was among the party’s top leaders from Uttar Pradesh and was widely expected to be nominated to the CWC. Not only has his death created a void for the party in Uttar Pradesh it has also left workers with grudges without a rallying point. Though there was a rapprochement with Mrs Gandhi after his defeat in the Congress presidential elections certain senior leaders had not forgiven Mr Prasada for his tirade against the coterie during the run-up to the presidential poll. Despite losing presidential elections against Mrs Gandhi by a massive margin, Mr Prasada had struck a sympathetic chord among the party rank and file with his talk of empowering the grassroots workers. Party insiders say certain party leaders, keen on a CWC berth, were trying to paint Mr Prasada as untrustworthy in the eyes of the top leadership. It is doubtful if they would have succeeded considering the support Mr Prasada enjoyed in his home state of Uttar Pradesh. The party now has to look for an upper caste leader in the electorally important state of Uttar Pradesh who could boost Congress hopes in the assembly elections almost a year away. There were informed reports that Mrs Gandhi would declare the first list of about 16 CWC members early this week. The announcement has been pushed forward by about 10 days now. It is unlikely that Mrs Gandhi will nominate all 24 members of the CWC before the party’s plenary in Bangalore next month. With assembly elections due in several states in April-May, Mrs Gandhi will keep some seats vacant to take care of the emerging equations in these states. Vacancies will also enable her to check any disgruntlement after the first list of CWC members is announced. Mrs Gandhi is meeting 40 leaders everyday to ascertain their views regarding the composition of the CWC. In Uttar Pradesh, the choice is likely to be from among Ms Mohsina Kidwai, Mr N.D. Tiwari, and Mr Salman Khurshid. A senior party leader said that apart from giving due representation to weaker sections Mrs Gandhi would give due weight to regional balance. Some fresh faces are also expected. In fact, an
argument in favour of nomination was that CWC elections could be “hijacked” by the AICC delegates from populous states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. |
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WB CM mocks at ‘mahajot’ KOLKATA, Jan 17 — The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharyya, has lashed out at Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to form ‘mahajot’ against the CPM and termed it as “coming together of Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse”. The Chief Minister warned the people against the BJP-led NDA which was engaged in ‘disintegrating the country’. He was, however, confident that the West Bengal people would not forgive Ms Banerjee for her ‘anti-social activities’. Mr Bhattacharyya stated this at a meeting hosted by the Democratic Students Federation at the Netaji indoor stadium. Incidentally, a meeting of the Chief Minister, arranged by the local CPM unit at Baruipur yesterday in south 24-Parganas at Rail Maidan was disallowed by the rail authorities at the last moment. The meeting venue was shifted to an alternative place at Kachari bazar, where the Chief Minister and other leaders attacked Railway Minister for her high-handedness. Mr Sujan Chakraborty, local CPM MLA alleged that only recently Ms Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress leader, Mr Pankaj Banerjee, held two public meetings at Rail Maidan, but the Chief Minister did not get the permission to hold a meeting at the same place. The meeting was arranged on the occasion of re-opening of the closed tiles plant of Krishna Glass Factory. The Eastern Railway’s CPRO, Mr Kaushik Mukherjee, admitted that the Chief Minister’s public meeting arranged by the CPM at Baruipur Rail Maidan had not been permitted as per railways rules of disallowing any political meetings on the railway premises which has been in force since 1971. He denied Ms Banerjee or any other political leader having held any political meeting at the place. Ms Banerjee’s recent meeting there had been held on the occasion of opening of doubling of Baruipur-Lakshikantapur line, he added. |
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NHRC team to
visit Midnapore NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (UNI) — The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the West Bengal Government to send it a comprehensive reply to the serious complaints of human rights violations in the state and also directed its own Investigation Division to collect all facts pertaining to the allegations. Commission sources said here today that the NHRC had also forwarded to the state government a report submitted to it by a team of mps about human rights violations in Midnapore district and asked West Bengal to reply by January 31. In view of the seriousness of the allegations, the
NHRC has also directed its Director-General (Investigation) Y.N. Srivastava to visit Midnapore and collect all facts, especially those relating to the violence in Choto Anguria and Keshpur villages. The state government has also been asked to provide necessary facilities and security to the
NHRC team during the visit. Though the matter was first brought to the notice of the
NHRC by Mr Tamali Sengupta, an advocate, it was reiterated by several others who complained of serious human rights abuse in the district. The commission, which had already issued a notice to the West Bengal Government on January 3 on the basis of Mr Sengupta’s complaint, was still awaiting a reply, the sources said. |
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Jaswant’s Riyadh visit to boost economic ties NEW DELHI, Jan 17 — Indo-Saudi Arabia ties are going to get a boost when External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh arrives in Riyadh on January 19 for wide-ranging discussions with the top Saudi leadership. Mr Jaswant Singh’s visit, first by any Foreign Minister from India, is going to be productive as substantial talks for deepening of economic and commercial ties between the two countries are going to be held during his three day stay there. Developments in West Asia peace process and international terrorism will also be among the issues that are expected to figure prominently during talks which Mr Jaswant Singh will hold with the Saudi leadership, including the Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. The External Affairs Minister’s visit to the oil-rich kingdom is incidentally first high-level political contact in the last two decades. He will have wide-ranging discussion on regional, international and bilateral issues of mutual concern with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said here today. Two agreements on combating drug trafficking and regular foreign office consultations will be signed during the visit. Besides addressing the Saudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the External Affairs Minister will also have a meeting with the Saudi Petroleum Minister. India is the largest importer of oil and petroleum products from Saudi Arabia. India is projected to import 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil during the current financial year as against 6.75 mt during 1999-2000. Trade and economic relations between the two countries are expected to get further consolidated and expanded in the field of high technology, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. Of late, there has been a change in Saudi’s assessment of India as New Delhi is being perceived as a major emerging economic power in the region. During the Kargil war with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia had played an important role in persuading Islamabad to withdraw. On Kashmir, Saudi Arabia has been in favour of a permanent settlement of the vexed issue while not showing any preference for either side. The two sides are also expected to discuss ways to jointly combat the menace of terrorism, including operations of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. Saudi Arabia is among the three Islamic countries to recognise the Taliban regime. Officials said a good political equation with Saudi Arabia could reap significant benefits for India on account of Riyadh’s pan-Islamic reach. |
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4 killed in attack
on MLA’s house PATNA, Jan 17 (PTI) — Four persons were killed in an exchange of fire following an attack on the house of Ms Vibha Devi, Independent MLA from Bihar, in Bittha village of Purnea district late last night, the state DGP, Mr R.R. Prasad said today. Assailants belonging to the Shanker Singh gang attacked Ms Vibha Devi’s house, wife of ganglord Avadhesh
Mandal, killing two persons. In the retaliatory fire, two assailants were killed, Mr Prasad said. |
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Editor moves SC in CJI case NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (UNI) — The Editor of Kaalchakra fortnightly, Vineet Narain, today filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of a notice issued by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for initiating suo motu contempt proceedings against him for publishing a news item relating to the Chief Justice of India
(CJI). The high court had issued the contempt notice on the basis of a news item published in the fortnightly’s December 16-31 issue, alleging that the sitting judge of the high court had passed an order in a case concerning a close relative of the
CJI. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had directed the petitioner-editor to appear before it on January 23 to show cause why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. |
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Ceasefire to cover all Naga areas GUWAHATI, Jan 17 (UNI) —The ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of
Nagaland (NSCN) is likely to be extended to all Naga areas in the North-Eastern region. A crucial meeting of the Chief Ministers of North-East was being convened shortly to take a final decision in this regard, the Joint Secretary to the Union Home Minister Mr G.K. Pillai today said. The July 1997 ceasefire with the rebels had been extended till July 31 with revised ground rules prohibiting
NSCN cadres from carrying arms to populated areas. Also, there would be no safe havens. “This was decided after three months of deliberations in New Delhi. So the ball is now in our court to extend the ceasefire to all Naga areas as demanded by the
NSCN,” he said. An old demand of the outfit, the Chief Ministers of neighbouring states had vehemently opposed it, especially the heads of Manipur and Assam. However, the Mizoram Government had supported the extension of ceasefire to their areas. “By and large, the
NSCN has accepted most of our objections with regard to the ceasefire’s territorial expansion. They have assured they will close down the camps in Meghalaya and also stop supporting other militant groups,” he said. |
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Ban on vehicles
‘not implemented’ HANUMANGARH, Jan 17 — The district administration has failed to implement the orders passed about three months ago to stop the movement of unlicensed vehicles in the city. After an agitation by employees of the Rajasthan State Roadways Transport Corporation, the then District Collector had formally notified various bus stands in the district on October 13 last year. It included Hanumangarh Junction, Hanumangarh Town, Rawatsar, Nohar, Bhadra and Pilipbangan bus stands under Act 8 of the Rajasthan Roadways Regulation of 1990. According to the notification, an area of 2 km around these bus stands was declared as no parking zone, and a ban was put on the construction of booking offices of private vehicles in the area. The orders said the SP, DTO, traffic inspector and the roadways officials would keep a vigil if the orders were implemented. But private vehicles are still frequently parked inside the junction and town bus stands. The booking offices of these unlicensed vehicles are operating in front of the bus stands. |
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Court summons
Dawood MUMBAI, Jan 17 (UNI) — Karachi-based underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anis Ibrahim and Noor Mohammad have been asked by a special court to appear before it on February 5 in a case related to the attachment of their property. The Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act
(MCOCA) Court issued the summons. The process of attachment of property of the accused in 1993 Mumbai riots and bomb blasts is on in a
TADA court in the city. Dawood and his gang members are the prime accused in the case. The Section 20 (3)(a) of the
MCOC Act, empowers the court to attach the property belonging to the accused who are wanted and absconding. |
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