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Monday,
May 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Shah’s aides in Delhi with letter for Musharraf Truce may be extended by three months Naval chief opts out of race for CDS ‘Monkey attacks’ turn out to be false |
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Taliban decrees for Hindus I will do PM’s bidding: Panja VHP leader slams Vajpayee govt Indian tectonic plate moving
5 cm annually
Alarm bells ring in Nagaland Upgraded MiG-21 by June Delhi told to pay Rs 3 lakh to deceased’s kin ABSU-backed MLAs form new body PM undergoes pre-operative checkup Sons kill man for property
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Shah’s aides in Delhi with letter for Musharraf New Delhi, May 20 The move of sending the two representatives — Maulana Abdullah Tari, secretary-general of the Shah-led Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) and Saleem Geelani, is seen as an effort by Shah to woo Pakistan’s support to the stand taken by him on New Delhi’s offer for talks. The two-member team would be handing over the letter to Pakistani High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi tomorrow besides holding discussions on the present situation in Kashmir. “We have a clear stand that we want a solution to the Kashmir issue and for that we will have to carry along all parties to the dispute,” Mr Geelani said. Stating that Pakistan was “undoubtedly” a party to the dispute and in the wake of New Delhi also accepting that it was not averse to involving Islamabad in the parleys, Mrs Geelani said: “Our party president wants to keep everything transparent and we have written a letter to General Musharraf seeking his cooperation in the proposed parleys on the dispute”. Refusing to divulge the contents of the letter, Mr Geelani said: “It broadly is seeking Islamabad’s continued positive response and contribution in the restoration of peace and stability in the subcontinent.” Militant outfits including Al-Umer Mujahideen have threatened to kill both of them and recently a grenade was also lobbed at Tari’s residence. The party is hoping that the move would ease pressures on it and the militant outfits would be tamed, party sources said. All three parties to the Kashmir issue — India, Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir — should come forward and contribute to the restoration of peace and stability in the region as “bottlenecks” had been removed, Mr Geelani said. Asked to elaborate on the bottlenecks that were to be removed, he said “New Delhi no longer considers the Kashmir issue a law and order problem but a dispute.” Referring to the response of Centre’s interlocutor on Kashmir K.C. Pant to the clarifications sought by the Mr Shah, Mr Geelani said “the reply was not disappointing.” “But disappointment should not mean that we are convinced. It is a long way to go,” he added. Referring to the resignation of the JKDFP leader Hakeem Abdul Rashid, who had refused to be part of a three-member team nominated by JKDFP leader Shabir Shah to hand over a letter to Mr Pant earlier this month, Mr Geelani said: “This is a party where people come and go the show must go on.” Mr Rashid, JKDFP publicity secretary, had said that he had “revolted” against Mr Shah on the call of his conscience following latter’s “inclination” to enter into bilateral talks with New Delhi on the Kashmir issue.
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Truce may be extended by three months New Delhi, May 20 The decision to this effect is likely to be taken later this week by the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, informed sources said. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh had yesterday chaired the Unified Command meeting of the Army, paramilitary forces and the state police in Srinagar to assess the ground situation.
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Naval chief opts out of race for CDS New Delhi, May 20 They said the Admiral had written a letter to Defence Minister Jaswant Singh conveying his decision not to be a contender for the post. But at the same time he asserted that as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee he would work towards the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff set up. Though, Admiral Kumar had cited no reasons for his opting out of the race for the CDS, defence sources said the Naval chief’s decision was apparently in reaction to the opposition to his takeover as the CDS by the Air Force. Admiral Sushil Kumar is the seniormost of the three service chiefs and was tipped to take over as soon as the government came out with a formal decision to create the post of the Chief of Defence Staff. A decision in this regard was put off after last week’s meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with the government saying a decision on the issue would be taken only after consultation with the Opposition. With the bickerings among the services coming out into the open, Defence Ministry sources said this would further delay the process of setting up the CDS. A Naval spokesperson said the Admiral had written the letter to the Defence Minister on May 14 and was yet to receive a reply. He refused to elaborate. Highly-placed Naval sources said the Naval chief wanted to make it clear that he was not hankering for the post. But they added if the government still asked him to don the mantle “the Admiral would do as
ordered”. Experts are divided on the issue of creating the post of the Chief of Defence Staff, with the bulk of service officers supporting the CDS set up, but insisting that it should be manned by either the Army or the Air Chief. Under the new system unveiled by the Defence Ministry, the Chief of Defence Staff would be a four-star General and would have a Vice-Chief of Defence Staff from a different service. The structure also provides for four posts of deputy CDS from the three services and the fourth to look after an integrated tri-service defence intelligence agency.
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‘Monkey attacks’ turn out to be false New Delhi, May 20 This has given strength to the police’s claim that the incidents of attack by the ‘black monkey’ were actually acts of some adventurers or mischievous elements. “We are investigating the possibility of anti-social elements taking advantage of the monkey scare to spread terror in society,’’ Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Manoj Lal said. The police is also investigating the possibility of ‘anti-national’ forces using the monkey scare to spark off violence in the Capital. The police has received certain clues in this regard. The Delhi Police has compiled data related to the ‘monkey attacks’ from all nine police districts in Delhi showing the falsity of the claims. Medical experts said in certain cases the injuries, reported to be caused by monkey scratches, in reality appeared to be ‘self-inflicted’. In all, the police has so far received 325 calls of which 280 were found to be fake. Only 45 calls related to injuries sustained by 62 persons, allegedly caused by ‘monkeys’. However, examination of the victims by medical experts revealed that the injuries were in no way linked to an animal. Nineteen persons have been arrested so far on charges of making fake calls or indulging in rioting in various parts of the Capital. Investigations also revealed that only about 60 persons had actually seen the ‘black monkey’ and the rest only believed that there was a ‘monkey like animal’ who attacked them. The first call about the monkey attack was made at 10.15 p.m. on May 10 in East Delhi and the last one around 10.30 a.m. today. A district-wise data of cases in the Capital provides some very interesting facts. New Delhi: People residing in this VVIP locality of the Capital did not lag behind in the ‘monkey race’ and made three calls to the police about attacks by the animal at 10.49 a.m. on Thursday. However, all were found to be fake. None of the callers had actually seen the mysterious ‘black monkey’. East Delhi: The first call made at 10.15 p.m. on May 10. Since then, a total of 107 calls were made and 89 of them found to be fake. Thirteen men and one women were ‘injured’ in the incidents. Analyses of medico-legal cases (MLCs) of victims showed no signs of monkey bites or scratches. Nine persons were arrested for spreading panic and rioting. A doctor was held for playing a prank. Twentytwo persons said they had seen the monkey. Krishna Nagar and Gandhi Nagar were the worst-affected areas. North-East Delhi: This was the worst-affected region in the Capital. The first call was made around 2.30 a.m. on May 13. Since then, 163 calls were made and 128 found to be bogus. Thirty men and four women were ‘injured’. None of them bore any monkey-bites or scratches. Eight persons were arrested and 24 persons said they had seen the ‘black monkey’. Nand Nagri and Gokul Puri reported maximum number of calls.
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Taliban decrees for Hindus New Delhi, May 20 In a recent decree, a separate dress-code has been fixed for Muslims and non-Muslims (Hindus), and a Hindu household is required to put a two metre yellow cloth on his house so that the identity is known. According to the decree, a copy of which was made available to UNI, Hindus and Muslims cannot live in the same house. Hindus, living in such a house, have been asked to leave within three days and vice versa. Any violation invite prosecution. Heads of Hindu places of worship have been asked to prepare a list of such places/houses where Hindus and Muslims are living together. Hindus cannot build new prayer houses. They have been asked to conduct prayers in existing ones. Places of worship once destroyed cannot be rebuilt. Hindu men cannot wear turbans, while Hindu women should wrap their body with a big yellow chadder with two small holes near the eyes. Hindu women can go to markets but they should wear an iron necklace and their body should be wrapped in yellow “chadder.” No Hindu can keep arms. Over the past few years, Hindu and Sikh Afghans have watched helplessly as their homes, business and places of worship have been destroyed.
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I will do PM’s bidding: Panja New Delhi, May 20 “It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. Whatever he wants me to do for the nation, I will do,” Mr Panja said. Mr Panja, who was a Minister of State for External Affairs in the Vajpayee government till the Trinamool withdrew from the NDA government, has been striking a different note ever since the Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee entered into an electoral alliance with the Congress for the recently concluded Assembly elections in West Bengal. He had defied Ms Banerjee by campaigning for the BJP and addressing rallies with Mr Vajpayee. There are indications of a Cabinet reshuffle with the possibility of some new faces being inducted. Mr Panja’s reentry into the Cabinet is not easy as the Prime Minister has to take a comprehensive view. The Trinamool supremo has not yet decided her future course of political action and the Prime Minister is said to be keen to have her on the right side. At the moment, Mr Vajpayee is eager to avoid any split in the Trinamool, sources said. Mr Panja, who met the Prime Minister here yesterday, said he had discussed with Mr Vajpayee issues relating to the development of West Bengal and also the ‘Food for Oil Programme’ he had taken up with Iraqi President Saddam Hussain when he was the minister. |
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VHP leader slams Vajpayee govt Bhubaneswar, May 20 The government has “failed” to curb the activities of ISI-sponsored militant groups and was “unable” to take the desired action against the terrorists because of its “political compulsions”, he alleged at a news conference here. Asked if the BJP was compromising with national security to continue in power, the acharya said “they were bound to do that to remain in power”. It was not a BJP government, but a government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of so many parties, he said, adding in the past when some actions were initiated to deport infiltrators, curb infiltrations into West Bengal and Assam and enforce a ban on cow slaughters, certain NDA partners started shouting and levelled allegations of saffronisation. The government “did not” have any option in this regard, he said adding “should we opt for Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav or Jyoti Basu”? However, Kishore said the VHP was more interested in the security of the nation than the continuance of the BJP-led NDA government. “If the government failed to deliver the goods, let it go”, he said. Commenting on the Tehelka expose, the VHP leader while lauding the efforts of journalists, said “the press should also consider as to whether because of this expose, the country’s security was being compromised”. While the guilty should be punished, care should be taken to ensure that it did not affect the morale of the armed forces, he said. While stating that he was not the spokesman for the government, the VHP leader, however, expressed his opposition to any further extension of ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir. A ceasefire was normally effected only between two countries and not with terrorists, he said adding that the past six months’ceasefire in the state had “pushed it six years backwards”. Replying to a question as to whether the VHP favoured an attack on training camps for terrorists including those inside Pakistan, Mr Kishore said Israel was our ideal in this respect. Alleging that activities of certain christian organisations and the ISI were on the rise in the North-East, he referred to a reply given in Parliament on December 10, 1996, in which the government had admitted to continuance of militant activities in states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and the terrorists procuring sophisticated arms and equipment with funds provided by foreign churches. The government should come out with a white paper on investigations carried out in this regard, he said. He reiterated VHP’s demand for a total ban on conversions. Stating that the terrorist activities had assumed serious proportions during the past few years, he said it had cost the country about Rs 65,000 crore.
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Indian tectonic plate moving 5 cm annually New Delhi, May 20 Amid temperatures that dip to minus 89°C and blizzards measuring 200 km per hour, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research has flagged off 20 expeditions to the pole during the past two decades with the last originating from Cape Town in South Africa, curtailing the travelling time from 25 to 9 days. After establishing a permanent station named “Maitri” amidst the icy terrains a permanent Global Positioning System has been set up as a reference station for what geologists call “Geodetic’’ studies,according to an official report. The observatory had provided precise values of relative movements of the tectonic plate. It had been found that the Indian plate was moving five centimetres north and north-eastwards annually,leader of the third Antarctic expedition
H.K. Gupta said here yesterday. Automatic weather stations (AWS) had been set up in remote areas, which were providing radiation budget estimation on a yearly basis. The budget was required as an input for mass balance studies towards global climate change research. The AWS had recorded various surface energy flux with annual energy loss estimated at 45 watt per square metre. With a view to tapping wind energy available aplenty in the cold region having prolonged spell of days and nights, prototype of wind turbine had been designed and made operational, the report said. In addition, a permanenet digital seismometer had been set up to monitor seismic disturbances of the Antarctic plate, the report said, adding that an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale was recorded at Maitri station in September 1999. The signals of the recent Bhuj earthquake were also recorded by the seismometer. A state-of-the-art Brewer spectrophotometer has also been inducted in the metereological observatory. The spectrophotometer has yielded continous total ozone and sulphur dioxide profiles over
Maitri. Ozone hole was recorded as early as August last year which was a deviation from the ozone depletion observed from September during earlier years.
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Scientist’s shoeshine protest New Delhi, May 20 Sitting on a pavement along with his wife at Jantar Mantar here, Mr Debjyoti Bandopadhyay (37) displays his device which, if fitted with a gas stove, can help save 40 per cent LPG. “While the device has attracted business offers from countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and oman, the Indian Government had turned a deaf ear to my requests for help,” claims Mr Bandopadhyay who had sought the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry’s help in getting the international patent for his device. He said he had written a letter in this regard to HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, which was forwarded by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, but it failed to secure any support from the government. Mr Bandopadhyay, after applying for a patent for the device in West Bengal in 1993, had started its commercial production and sale from Hooghly. He even gave dealership and distribution rights to some traders in other districts of the state. “But later some of these dealers tried to snatch the ownership rights of this technology which I invented after six years of dedicated work,” he said. The inventor was once picked up by some of these dealers and beaten up. “They even forced me to sign a suicide note but somehow I got out of their hands and fled to safety. But due to the continued threats of this mafia I had to close down my business.” He said. In view of persistent threats to his life, Bandopadhyay’s wife, Mita, wrote a letter to the (NHRC) on February 28 wherein she also complained of non-cooperation from the Hooghly District police. “Acting on her complaint, the NHRC sent a notice to the Hooghly Superintendent of Police in March but we did not get any help from the police,” the inventor said. He further alleged that the police created obstacles when he applied for a passport after getting offers from foreign countries. “It seems the police is acting in collusion with the traders’ mafia which don’t want me to succeed.” Mr Bandopadhyay has also filed a case in the MRTPC against the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) which, he claimed, had given him a “false certificate” after testing his device. “I gave them Rs 40,000 but they gave me a false certificate. Now I have asked for a compensation of Rs 40 lakh from the PCRA.” Regarding his decision to polish shoes in the Capital, he said: “the Government of India has forced me, a scientist, to become a shoeshine boy. This is possible only in India. I have chosen this kind of protest to get justice from the government.” Despite all odds, the Bandopadhyay couple is determined to fight it out till the end. “If we don’t get justice we will both end our lives,” said the inventor. Meanwhile, he has written letters to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the HRD Minister and the NHRC, seeking their intervention in the matter.
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Alarm bells ring in Nagaland Kohima, May 20 Various organisations and individuals have urged both the Centre and the NSCN (IM) to sort out differences, if any, and continue with the current ceasefire and peace process to find an amicable settlement to the decades-old Naga political problem, respecting the wishes of the Nagas. The NSCN (IM) collective leadership, in a letter to the Centre on May 7, had threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire, accusing the government of backtracking from its “commitment” on extension of truce to other Naga-inhabited areas beyond Nagaland. Following this, NSCN (IM) general secretary Muivah, who is facing trial at Bangkok on charges of possessing forged travel documents, recently declared a “state of emergency” asking his cadres to go back to jungles to prepare for any “eventuality”. However, Chief Negotiator of Naga peace talk K. Padmanabhaiah announced that the Centre would make all efforts to continue the ceasefire with the NSCN and accordingly, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister reviewed the Naga peace process at a high-level meeting in New Delhi recently. Expressing serious concern over the NSCN threat, the Naga Hoho, the apex tribal council, urged the outfit not to take any hasty decision on the matter and appealed to both sides to sort out their differences to continue with the hard-earned peace in Nagaland. Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), the apex church organisation in the state, called upon both the Centre and the NSCN (IM) to extend the tenure of current ceasefire, which expires in July. Besides declaring ceasefire with the NSCN in August, 1997, the Centre last month announced truce with the NSCN(K) to widen the scope of the Naga peace process. The Chairman of the ceasefire monitoring group Lt-Gen V.K. Kulkarni, insisted on some kind of understanding between the two NSCN groups, saying that there could not be two arrangements for solving the vexed Naga issue. Both groups should forget their differences and sit together at the negotiating table with the Centre to work out a solution acceptable to both sides. The powerful Sumi Hoho, which was instrumental in declaring Zunheboto district as a “peace zone” restricting factional fighting, also advocated that both NSCN groups should sit together for political talks with the Centre.
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Upgraded MiG-21 by June New Delhi, May 20 The upgradation, Russian and HAL experts said, would transform the MiG-21 — now virtually on the phase-out list — into a multi-function, multi-purpose and multi-mode aircraft with much-enhanced safety, capability. “The New MiG-21-93 would have a high operational reliability”, the experts said, to drive home the point that the new aircraft, 125 of which will be upgraded in a phased manner by 2004, would have state-of-the-art equipment to overcome pilot errors. The MiG-21 has been in news recently for a high rate of accidents, with as many as 186 being involved in mishaps during the past 10 years and most of them because of pilot errors. By year-end, HAL officials said, the first batch of four MiG-21-93 would roll out to swell the number of upgraded MiGs to six, with the first two fighters being upgraded in Russia having already completed the firing tests. Top HAL officials said by next year, the IAF could have as many as 12 MiG-21-93 operational after undergoing exhaustive user trials. These will have upgraded engines, plus french and israeli avionics on the pattern of the two that have been converted by MiG-Mapo at the Dokol aircraft plant in Nizhni Novgorod. The Russian as well as Indian experts attribute the inordinate accident rate of MiG-21s to poor transition from the piston engined Kiran to the unforgiving supersonic MiGs, pilot errors and bird hits. The officials said the recent fighter fleet review undertaken by the IAF suggests that the MiG-23 BN ground attack squadrons would also be phased out in the next five years and replaced by upgraded MiG-27 Bahadur tactical air strike fighters. While, upgradation of the MiG-21-93 is being undertaken at Nasik, about 40 MiG-27s are being upgraded at HAL, Bangalore. While French and Israelis are only supplying avionics and some sub-system, basically four major Russian companies, MiG-Mapo, Sokol aviation plant, Phazortron-Niir Corporation and GosNiias Reserach Institute are involved in the upgradation programme, which is being watched with great interest by western and Chinese aviation companies. At the heart of the MiG-21 upgradation programme is the installation in the fighter of the Kopyo multi-function airborne radar, which gives it the capability of engaging as many as eight targets simultaneously and the selection of the two most dangerous ones for instant lock-on.
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Delhi told to pay Rs 3 lakh to deceased’s kin New Delhi, May 20 NHRC sources said here today that the commission had earlier issued a show-cause notice to the state government asking it why compensation should not be paid to the family of Mohammad Irshad Khan, who was brutally beaten to death by Delhi Police officials. “Since the Delhi Government had not replied to the show-cause notice within the stipulated time, the NHRC assumed at it had nothing to say in the matter and has thus recommended the compensation be paid immediately under Section 18(3) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, to next of kin of the deceased.” The commission had taken cognizance of the case following an intimation from the DCP, North-East District, on October 17, 2000, stating that Irshad had been brutally beaten to death by police officials. Though policemen had later taken Irshad to hosptial, he was declared brought dead. Requisite reports relating to the post-mortem, magisterial inquiry and findings into the cause of death were called for and received by the NHRC on December 15. Meanwhile, the commission also received a petition from the victims father, alleging negligence and lack of cooperation by the police and administration. According to reports received from the police, investigation conducted in the case established the guilt of two police constables who while intervening in a scuffle between the deceased and a rickshaw-puller had beaten up Irshad, resulting in his death. It said that a charge sheet in the case had been framed against all accused and the matter was to be tried in the competed court of law. The commission made it clear that the award of this relief would not in any manner prejudicially affect all or any of the accused who were to be tried, or even the merits of the point, which arose for determination during the trial.
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ABSU-backed MLAs form new body Guwahati, May 20 The BDLP will be led by Mr Pramila Rani Brahma, who won the election from the prestigious Kokrajhar (East) seat, party sources said here today. The decision of top leaders of the ABSU and the new MLAs in Kokrajhar, sources said. The MLA from the Kaligaon constituency Nathuram Boro had been elected as the deputy leader while Udalguri legislator Rihan Daimary and Tamulpur MLA Biswajit Daimary would be the secretary and chief whip of BJLP respectively. Although the ABSU fought the May 10 poll in alliance with AGP and the ASDC there was no mention of the tie-up with the BDLP.
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PM undergoes pre-operative checkup New Delhi, May 20 He spent nearly an hour at the institute, an official spokesperson for the PMO said. The surgery in the right knee of Mr Vajpayee has been scheduled to be performed on June 7 at Mumbai by the New York based surgeon, Dr C. Ranawat. He has already performed a knee joint surgery in the left leg of the Prime Minister. Prior to his surgery Mr Vajpayee is planning to take a week-long vacation in Manali from May 23 to May 30.
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Sons kill man for property Greater Noida, May 20 According to police sources, Gopichand (65), a resident of Swarajpur village, had sold 20 bighas of his 25 bighas; he was said to be an alcoholic. Fearing the sale of the remaining land by their father, the sons yesterday mixed poison in his drink. Gopichand died instantly. The sons later took his body to cremation ground
secretly but Gopichand’s brother-in-law, who got the wind of the things, informed the police. The police arrested the sons and registered a case under Sections 302, 201 and 304 of the IPC. They had reportedly admitted to their crime. |
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