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Thursday,
June 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Cops
alerted in Manipur
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Pak
denies consular access to Indian Parliamentary
panel on Railways Indo-Nepal
JWG meeting today New gas field struck |
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Mamata
threatens to snap ties with Cong USA has ‘no access’ to
military bases Kohli
sworn in Meghalaya Governor Security
beefed up in Capital UP
poll: BJP rules out tie-up with BSP
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Cops alerted in Manipur Imphal, June 27 Sit-in protests were reported from Wangkhei, Kongba, Uripok and other parts of the two districts during the curfew hours. The agitators were later dispersed by the police and other security forces. Reports from districts said people in small groups, defying prohibitory orders, took out processions in interior valley areas, while several organisations, including ones belonging to Naga groups, continued to express opposition to the extension of Centre-NSCN(I-M) ceasefire to Manipur. The government had earlier relaxed curfew for 10 hours from 5 a m today, but had to reimpose it for an indefinite period in Imphal West and East districts from 9 a m following reports that widespread agitation had been planned. Security and police forces were deployed at all vulnerable points and patrolling intensified in different parts of the state. Reports said despite the imposition of an indefinite curfew and Section 144 CrPC, local clubs and associations, including women’s groups continued their protests against the truce in peripheral areas in the valley and parts of hill districts. Passers-by who could not return to their residences during the curfew relaxation period were beaten up by police and security forces immediately after its reimposition, the reports alleged. KOHIMA: Meanwhile, the NSCN(I-M) today appealed to all national political parties to refrain from “reaping political mileage” from the present situation arising out of the extension of ceasefire in the northeast and contribute to finding an amicable settlement to the Naga problem. All concerned should make concerted efforts to fructify the ongoing peace process and “those who oppose the peace initiative are for war and bloodshed”, the outfit said in a statement released to the press through its information and publicity wing. It urged parties not to take “advantage of the present situation for their political mileage” following a commotion by a section of the people who are opposed to the peace process. Asserting that the ceasefire is “universal”, the NSCN(I-M) statement said the Nagas have been restraining themselves to the “maximum” to give time to the neighbouring states to reconcile themselves to the historical truth that the once peaceful “Nagalim” was fragmented by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and U. Nu of Myanmar into five different parts without the consent of the Nagas. The five parts are — present Nagaland state, some portions in Assam and north-western part of Myanmar.
PTI |
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Naga ceasefire reports
‘disturb’ NPC Kohima, June 27 Reacting to reported statements on the issue, the NPC asserted any deviation or alteration of the ceasefire arrangement with the NSCN (I-M), arrived at after prolonged consideration and deliberation, would invite serious repercussions and consequences. Huska Sumi pointed out any changes over the arrangement will hamper the ongoing peace process involving Naga undergrounds and the Centre. The NPC welcomed the ceasefire extension as bringing about a lasting solution to the vexed Naga political problem. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), another regional party in Nagaland, asked the Nagaland Pradesh Congress to spell out in clear terms its stand.
PTI
‘Credible interlocutor for NE needed’ New Delhi, June 27 For this, what we need is an experienced and credible political interlocutor for the issues relating to the North-East, including the Naga ceasefire, like we now have for Kashmir,” Mr Sangma said. |
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Pak denies consular access to
Indian New Delhi, June 27 While his parents have been knocking at several doors, including that of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his wife Begum Sehba Musharraf to get Vikas released from prison, the authorities concerned in Islamabad have turned a deaf ear, declining to “give any satisfactory response”. In response to questions from mediapersons, spokeswoman of the Ministry of External Affairs Nirupma Rao said that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had sought consular access “but we have not received any satisfactory response to our request from Pakistan”. Giving details of the Indian efforts, Mrs Rao said the Indian mission first contacted the Pakistan Foreign Office on February 2 with a request that a visa be given to Vikas who was to enter Pakistan through Afghanistan after travelling 64 countries in 14 years. Vikas was then stranded on the border for three weeks and had exhausted his financial resources, she said, adding that this request was repeated on April 4. When news of his arrest was carried by Pakistani newspapers on April 23, Indian mission officials took up the matter with the Foreign Office, explaining to them that Vikas was on a world tour to spread the message of peace. On May 16, Indian Deputy High Commissioner Sudhir Vyas took up the matter with Director-General (South Asia) in the Pakistan Foreign Office, Mrs Rao said adding that on June 2 a note verbal was given to the Pakistani Foreign Office. On June 11, the same note verbal was given to the Pakistan High Commissioner here. Earlier, even the Interior Minister of Pakistan was approached by the Indian High Commissioner on June 7 and was requested for consular access to Vikas. On June 18, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner wrote to the Private Secretary of the Pakistan Interior Minister on the same matter, but they had not received any satisfactory response, she said. |
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Parliamentary
panel on Railways New Delhi, June 27 Sources in the Lok Sabha Secretariat said the study group chaired by the INLD MP from Rohtak, Capt Inder Singh, would visit Mumbai, Bangalore, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram during the eight-day-long tour. The group would not visit Mangalore as all officers of Palahghat division had been busy in restoration of lines after the accident. Sources said the group members would call on the General Managers of the Southern, Western and Central Railways. Prominent members of the study group include the former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Banarsi Das Gupta, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Ms Santosh Chaudhary, MP from Phillaur in Punjab, Mr Anil Sharma of the HVP, Mr G.K. Moopanar of the TMC, Abani Roy of the RSP, Ms Chandrakala Pandey of the CPI, Mr Jaibhadra Singh of the BSP, and Mr Subodh Mohite of the Shiv Sena. Ms Santosh Chaudhary told the TNS here today their study group also visited Delhi and New Delhi railway station, Guwahati, Kolkata and Chennai in mid-June. Sources said the second group had visited Rohtak, Bhiwani, Chandigarh and Shimla. |
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Indo-Nepal JWG meeting
today New Delhi, June 27 This is the fourth India-Nepal JWG meeting on Border Management. The last JWG meeting was held at Kathmandu between February 1-3, 2000. The 10-member Nepalese delegation would be led by Tika Dutta Niraula, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home, who is already in Delhi, and the Indian side will be headed by Joint Secretary (North-East) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Surendra Kumar. The meeting would, among other issues of mutual interest, review Joint District Level Boundary Committee Meetings, discuss measures to prevent terrorist and criminal activities, exchange list of pending cases and their investigation by both the countries and review progress made on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of Extradition Treaty and related matters, official sources said here today. On the issue of authorised identification documents for passengers travelling by air, the Indian Government is likely to suggest the Nepalese side to accept the identity cards issued by colleges and schools as identification documents. Ever since the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft from Nepal in December 1999, both India and Nepal had made it compulsory for persons travelling by air to carry authorised identification documents for security reasons. Among the authorised identification documents approved by both the countries were passports, identity cards issued by Central or state government or Election Commission and the emergency certificate issued by the respective missions. However, children below 10 years were exempted. This regulation had posed immense problem to students above 10 years from travelling to Nepal from India as their school certificate or identity cards were not accepted as a authorised documents and this also affected the tourist inflow to Nepal, affecting their economy. Another important aspect which is likely to be dwelled at length is abetment of terrorist activities by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan from Nepalese soil. This meeting also assumes significance as this would be the first official-level talks between the two countries after the assassination of Nepalese King. |
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New gas field
struck New Delhi, June 27 The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Ram Naik, has congratulated M/s Cairn Energy (India) Pvt Ltd for achieving this success in just about one year’s time from the signing of production sharing contract (PSC) for the block on 12th April 2000. The depth of water where gas discovery has been made is 1000 metres. The exploratory well drilled on prospect “R” reached a total depth of 2330 metres from the sea level and encountered several gas-pay zones below 1870 metres. The well flowed gas at a combined stabilised rate of more than 2.3 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) through 64/64” choke. The initial reserve estimates are in the range of 21-28 billion cubic metres (BCM) of dry gas. The “R” discovery will be appraised by a second well to be drilled later this year. The minister has underlined that this discovery proves very high potential for oil and gas in deep water and will certainly lead to a change in the perception about prospectivity of our sedimentary basins. This also augurs extremely well for the seven deep water exploration blocks awarded along the east coast of India in NELP-I and eight deep water blocks along the west coast of India under NELP-II. Inaugurating a seminar on “Development and utilisation of LNG” organised by FICCI, here today, Mr Naik said in the last General Budget removal of countervailing duty (CVD) was announced. He informed that the government was considering infrastructure status for LNG import projects. A comprehensive policy on LNG imports would be announced shortly by the government, Mr Naik said. Elaborating the efforts by Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), the Minister made a special mention about the supply of LNG at competitive rates to consumers by the company. Petronet LNG Limited is a company promoted by four Navaratna Oil PSUs namely IOC, BPCL, ONGC and GAIL. Besides, Gaz de France, the biggest Gas Company of France has signed an agreement to take up 10 per cent equity in PLL. The company is setting up two LNG import terminals (5 MMTPA at Dahej, Gujarat and 2.5 MMTPA at Kochi, Kerala). The Minister informed that the PLL had received most competitive offers for all activities in the LNG chain for the Dahej terminal and will pass on the benefits to consumers. Regasified LNG as a fuel not only holds a higher value addition for some of the core sectors like power, Fertilisers, but also holds a premium on environment protection over other liquid fuels. Several Indian and foreign projects have shown keen interest on development of LNG projects at 14 locations —both on west and east coast of India. Most of the foreign companies have been issued FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion) clearance to set up LNG terminals. The projects proposed to be implemented by Shell at Hazira (Gujarat), CMS Energy/Unocal/Grasim at Ennore (Tamilnadu), IOC/Petronas at Kakinada (AP), Tata/Total/GAIL at Mumbai (Maharashtra) and British Gas at Pipavav (Gujarat) have shown some progress. It is likely that in short run at least four to five projects may come up in the country, Mr Naik
added. |
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Mamata threatens to snap ties with Cong Kolkata, June 27 The “Bengal tigress”, who broke down at a meeting with her party leaders on Monday night, is now back to her form, finding that all MPs and MLAs were by her side against the CPM. She has threatened to snap “ties with the Congress which, she said, “has been a liability for her”. Ms Banerjee told reporters that her party formed an alliance with the Congress on the eve of West Bengal ‘s recent Assembly elections to fight the CPM which had been in power for the past 25 years. Their joint efforts had not been successful, but it was not only because the election was rigged. As a poll partner, the Congress was a week party, she said. Knowing well the Congress’ weakness, she still decided to join hands with the party as the CPM had been their common enemy. But now since the Congress had become a poll ally with the CPM in Punjab, the TC would find it difficult to go along with the party in Bengal, Ms Banerjee observed. She said: “The TC does not need the Congress by its side any more as it has been more of a liability than an asset.” Reacting strongly to Ms Banerjee’s remark, former WBPCC president Soment Mitra said the Congress might be a liability for her, but not for the people. The Assembly election results had so vindicated. “We fought in 59 seats and won 29, while the TC had contested in 229 seats and bagged only 62”, he reminded. “If she wants to quit us, she is welcome, but she should realise that to the people of West Bengal she has become a problem and a burden as well,” Mr Mitra remarked. Ms Banerjee said she was not in a haste to return to the NDA. “If we go back we will take the decision together and certainly not at the cost of our dignity and
prestige”. |
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USA has ‘no access’ to
military bases New Delhi, June 27 In response to a question, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of External Affairs, Ms Nirupma Rao said here while a US officer was received for a one-month-long jungle warfare training in November 2000, at the Vairangte training college in Mizoram, access to military bases was certainly not the case. Military training to each other’s officers was an expression of military-to-military cooperation between the two countries which had been going on for some time, the spokeswoman said. Describing the media reports as “not correct”, Ms Rao said it was incorrect to say that military training was access to bases. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said “courses in our defence establishments are open to all friendly countries. An officer of the US Army participated in a course at Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School
(CIJWS), Vairangte in Mizoram in 2000. His participation in this course was on the basis of a request made by the USA as part of the normal training
exchange programme between the two countries. The USA has on the same basis requested for a course in CIJWS in 2001.
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Kohli sworn in Meghalaya Governor Shillong, June 27 The Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court, Mr Ravinder Singh Mongia, administered the oath of office and secrecy of Mr Kohli who will carry out the gubernatorial duty in Meghalaya in the absence of the present incumbent, Mr M.M. Jacob, who is on a long leave. State Chief Secretary J.P. Singh introduced Mr Kohli to the Speaker, Mr E.D. Marak, the Chief Minister, Mr E.K. Mawlong, and other senior ministers before he was given the national salute. Besides top state government officers, Army and police personnel were also present at the swearing-in function.
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Security
beefed up in Capital New Delhi, June 27 A message was received by the Special Cell of the Delhi police on Monday that the international terrorist was “incensed over the arrest of his group members in the Capital” and wanted that some blasts be carried out at the installations of the USA in Delhi, police sources said. The Delhi police arrested four associates of the international terrorist on June 14, including a Sudanese national, Abdel Rouf Hawash, who reportedly hatched a plan to explode visa section of the US Embassy in New Delhi. Of them, two were arrested from Delhi, one was arrested from Udaipur while the fourth person from Bihar. The message was passed to the Delhi police for beefing up the security at all the US installations in the Capital, the sources said. The sources said the target of international terrorists was to explode US installations in the country, especially in Delhi and go back to Afghanistan where Bin Laden had his headquarters. They had involved local people to execute their job. Local people were given handsome money for the terrorist act. The persons arrested by the Delhi police were reportedly associated with Al-Qida, the group headed by Bin Laden. The intelligence agencies were monitoring telephone numbers of suspects associated with Al-Qida, the sources said. In the case of conspiracy to carry out blast at the US mission in New Delhi, hatched allegedly at the behest of Bin Laden, the city police was on a look out for an Iranian national, who was to provide technical know-how about the explosive material to Abdel Rouf Hawash, the sources said. The police is also confirming the links provided by “certain agencies” about a Yemeni national, who had contacted Hawash in October last year for this purpose. They said it was likely that “some members of Al-Qida might have slipped into the country to spread terror especially in the event of forthcoming visit of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.” |
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UP poll: BJP
rules out tie-up with BSP Dehra Dun, June 27 Ruling out the possibility of an alliance with the BSP in the coming elections, Mr Sanghpriya Gautam, national vice-president of the BJP, told mediapersons here yesterday that the party would not commit any blunder which could lead to parting of ways with the present alliance partners in the state. When asked whether the BJP was looking forward to early polls in Uttar Pradesh, he said the party had very little time to revamp itself. He insisted that the elections should be held in March, 2002. About the possibility of Mamata Banerjee’s return to the NDA, the BJP leader said it was in the interests of the BJP and Ms Banerjee as the parting of ways had harmed both. He was hopeful that she would return back to the NDA fold at the earliest. Mr Gautam said the Ram Mandir was not an issue before the party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The real test would be based on the performance of the state government, he said. Realising the importance of Uttar Pradesh in the national politics, he said the performance of BJP in the state would have a bearing on the future of the coalition led by it at the Centre. |
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Award for
eye surgeon New Delhi, June 27 According to a press note issued by Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, Dr Aurora has received the award for his work on ‘Volumetric Analysis of Macular Edema with Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph in Immune Recovery
Uvetiis’. |
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Presiding
officers’ conference New Delhi, June 27 |
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